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Prepared and published under authority of 

THL COUNTY BOARD OF 5UPLRVI50R5 

by the following committee: 

M. D. Hall. 
S. R. DONOHOE. Franklin Williams, Jr. 

J. S. Pearson. m. e. Church. 

1907 



iFatrfax Oluunty (f^ffirtala 



Judge — Hon. Louis C. Barley, Alexandria 

Commonwealth's Attorney — C. Vernon Ford, Fairfax 

Clerk — F. W. Richardson, Fairfax 

Sheriff — J. R. Allison, Fairfax 

Treasurer — Robert Wiley, Fairfax 

Superintendent of Schools — M. D. Hall, Burke 

Commissioner of the Revenue, North District — S. A. Wrenn, Herndon 

Commissioner of the Revenue, South District — J. N. Ballard, Pender 



COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: 

George Auld, Chairman, Alexandria 

R. C. Triplett, Alexandria R. L. Spindle, Centreville 

Franklin Williams, Vienna J. S. Pearson, Spring"vale 

George H. Burke, Burke 



eCT 22 1907 
D. OF D. 



FAIRFAX COUNTY 



AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL FEATURES 
CLIMATIC AND TOPOGRAPHICAL ADVANTAGES— SPECIAL INDUCE- 
MENTS TO CAPITAL, RARE OPPORTUNITIES 
TO HOME SEEKERS. 

It is designed to present here the agricultural and industrial features of 
Fairfax County, together with its climatic and topographical advantages, so 
as to show that the county offers special inducements for the investment of 
capital, and rare opportunities to the home-seeker, whether for agricultural, 
industrial, or residential purposes. 

Captain John Smith said of Virginia: "Heaven and earth never agreed 
better to frame a place for man's habitation." George Washington declared, 
in some of his correspondence, that "no portion of our country offered more 
natural advantages than that part lying in the Potomac River bed." J. 
Sterling Morton, when Secretary of Agriculture, after a visit to Fairfax 
County, expressed his amazement at the bargains in land the county offered, 
and the excellent crops he saw on every hand. He said : "Within three 
hours' drive of Washington there were bargains and opportunities unexcelled 
anywhere in the West." Verily, Fairfax County, old in its history, and 
hoary in its traditions, is throbbing with a new life of activity and enterprise. 
Only yesterday were her advantages and possibilities appreciated; yet, to-day 
she is attracting settlers from all parts of the Union, and even from foreign 
countries. Certainly no other section extends a more cordial welcome and 
more attractive inducements to the investor and home-seeker. 

Location. 

Fairfax County is situated in the northeastern portion of Virginia. It 
lies, as elsewhere stated, on the west bank of the Potomac River, seventy- 
eight miles north of Richmond. The eastern part of the county is in the 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

immediate vicinity of tlie cities of Washington and Alexandria; while all 
sections of it are within a few hours' drive of these cities. In addition to 
the accessibility to these cities by roadways, three steam and three electric 
railways connect the county with Washington. The greatest t-unk lines north 
and south traverse Fairfax County. Through trains on the Pennsylvania, 
Southern, Chesapeake and Ohio, Norfolk and Western, Seaboard Air Line, 
and the Atlantic Coast Line, are hourly passing through this county, affording 
convenient and direct connection with all parts of the country. Every sec- 
tion of the county is within easy reach of some one of these roads; and with 
their double track facilities, and consequent excellent local accommodations, 
great activity in suburban home-building is observed on every hand. Especially 
is this true along the lines of the electric railways, where numerous villages 
are springing into existence. 

The proximity and accessibility to Washington, the most magnificent city 
in the world, together with the splendid natural advantages of Fairfax, must 
inevitably make the county rich, populous and great. 

Towns. 

There are six incorporated towns in the county — all reached by one or 
more railroads, and all in a thriving and prosperous condition. 

Fairfax, the county seat, advantageously situated on a high and com- 
manding point between the main line and Bluemont br..iich of the Southern 
Railway, is a town of much interest and promise. Around it, as elsewhere 
noted, cluster many interesting historical associations. In the Clerk's Office 
is recorded, and can be seen, the last will and testament of the first President 
of the United States; and in the time-worn and dust-stained volumes con- 
tained therein can be found many interesting records of Washington's time. 
On the beautiful court green is the old Court House, built in 1800, and near 
it is the old well, over which hangs the "Old Oaken Bucket" with the tradition 
that "He who drinks therefrom will return to drink again." A short distance 
from these stands a gray granite monument, commemorating the fact that in 
the nearby open was killed the first soldier of the Civil War. A short dis- 
tance to the west from these, on one of the principal thoroughfares of the 
town, is the Gunnell House (now the Rectory), where, in the mid-hour of 
night, the intrepid Mosby captured the dashing young General Stoughton. 
While on the hills and in the valleys hereabouts can be found many evidences 
of the great conflict in the early "sixties," yet the hand of modern improve- 
ment has left no trace of these in the town. Coming out of the Civil War 
as a mere hamlet, with devastation on every hand, and the fortunes of its 
people much impaired, Fairfax has grown into a thriving town of several 
hundred inhabitants, with well-paved streets, a national bank, a hotel, ex- 
cellent general stores, a well equipped and up-to-date drug store, a prosperous 




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newspaper (the Fairfax Herald, more than a quarter of a century old), a 
carriage and wagon factory, private and pubHc schools, four churches, and a 
Masonic and other lodges. Here terminates the Washington, Arlington and 
Falls Church Electric Railway, the completion of which, in the latter part of 
1904, has not only infused new life into the town, but has assured its rapid 
and substantial growth. 

Fourteen miles from Washington, and the same distance from Alexandria, 
with a refined, progressive and cultivated people, in the midst of an agricul- 
tural section equal in fertility to that of any portion of Piedmont Virginia, 
the town of Fairfax promises, in the near future, to become one of the most 
progressive and prosperous inland towns in the State. 

Falls Church, one of the most beautiful suburban communities in Vir- 
ginia, is situated on the boundary line between Alexandria and Fairfax 
Counties, six miles from Washington, and contains a population of 1,100.' It 
was incorporated in 1875, and on account of the large area included within 
its corporate limits, it is frequently styled "The town of magnificent dis- 
tances.." ' The Bluemont branch of the Southern Railroad, and the Washing- 
ton, Arlington and Falls Church Electric Railway pass through the town, 
furnishing excellent transportation facilities between Falls Church and the 
cities of Washington and Alexandria. The Southern Railway operates five 
trains daily each way during the year, with one or more extras during the 









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1 !ie Virgiiiiari I'rainirig School, Falls Church 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



summer period. The electric cars run every half hour during the day, and 
as late as 12 o'clock at night. Commutation rates of travel on both roads 
are low, making it more economical to reside here than in Washington. The 
Great Falls and Old Dominion Electric Railway, constructed last year, is only 
two miles distant, and it is confidently expected that it will be extended to 
Falls Church in the near future. The residents of the town are mostly business 
men of Washington city and Government employees, who, being people of 
culture, have not spared expense in beautifying, and making comfortable and 
attractive, their homes. 

The beautifully shaded and well-paved streets, the tastefully and con- 
veniently constructed cottages, together with the ample gardens and large 
and beautiful grounds surrounding them, make Falls Church one of the most 
attractive towns in Northern Virginia. The moral and religious tone of the 
town is of the highest order. The licensed sale of liquor within one mile of 
the corporate limits of the town is prohibited by the charter, and thus is 
secured almost absolute freedom from the vices and annoyances that surround 
communities where intoxicating liquors are sold. There are ten churches, 
one excellent graded school, one private kindergarten school, one training 
school and sanitarium, a banking and trust corporation, a fire department, a 
public library, a public hall with comfortable lodge rooms, where the Masons, 
Odd-Fellows and Good Templars hold their meetings ; two steam railway 
stations, two electric car stations, three postofiices, local and long distance 
telephone exchange, three telegraph offices, a printing office, three medical 
doctors, one dentist, three attorneys-at-law, twelve contractors and builders, 
drug store, feed store, bakery, two notion stores, seven grocery stores, paint 
and hardware store, three meat and provision stores, two wood and coal 
yards, feed mill, broom factory, two lunch rooms, two blacksmith and wheel- 
wright shops, two funeral directors, livery stable, plumber and gas fitter, 

Burke Statioi 

Southern 

Railway 




FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Broad Street, Looking Westward, Falls Church. 

lumber yard, shoe shop, three barber shops, and six real estate agents. On 
account of the excellent moral environment, the high altitude and general 
healthfulness of Falls Church, it is considered one of the most desirable 
suburbs of Washington city. The land is gently rolling, well drained, very 
productive, and especially adapted to poultry-raising and fruit culture, and 
on account of present low prices (compared with the prices of similarly situ- 
ated property with respect to Washington city on the Maryland side of the 
Potomac River), it is being rapidly taken up by prosperous and progressive 
people. 

Herndon, situated on the Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway on 
the highest point between Washington and Bluemont, is a thriving town of 
1,100 inhabitants, with four churches, one graded school, a young ladies' 
seminary, a public library, a newspaper (the Observer), a bank, a large 
merchant mill, fifteen stores of various kinds, a, canning factory operated 
entirely by white help, drug store and livery stable, with blacksmith, carriage 
and carpenter shops. Surrounded by an agricultural section noted for its fer- 
tility, Herndon has become the center of a large grain trade. No point on 
either the main line or Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway ships more 
milk than Herndon. The town was incorporated in 1879, and was named for 
Capt. W. L. Herndon, a Virginian, who commanded the steamer Central 



10 



FAIR 



A X 



COUNT 



America, when lost between Panama and New York in 1857. Six trains 
each way from Washington afford excellent freight and passenger facilities. 
It is confidently expected that the Old Dominion Electric Railway will soon 
build a line from the Great Falls on the Potomac to Herndon. The people 
of the town are intelligent and progressive. Within the last five years they 
have subscribed thousands of dollars toward making permanently good the 
principal roads leading into the town. With its high and healthy location, 
its excellent water, g©od society, good schools, splendid agricultural sur- 
roundings and public-spirited population, Herndon, in a few years, must 
necessarily become a large and prosperous town. 

Vienna, also on the Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway, five miles 
north of Fairfax, was first called "Ayr Hill," a name given it by a Scotchman 
for his native place. Later, some time in the "fifties," there came a man, by 
name Hendricks, who agreed to locate here if the name of the place were 
changed to that of his native place in New York — Vienna. Then, as now, 
the welcome hand was gladly held out to the new-comer, and, flattered by his 
intention, the village, maiden-like, was willing to change her name if it 
pleased the stranger; thus she became Vienna — "Vee-anna" to the dwellers, 
"Vi-anner" to those who would be familiar, and yet know not. 

Before Vienna had time to increase greatly the sad days of the great 
Civil War had come, and her people wakened for years to the bugle calls of 
first one army and then the other as they, in turn, encamped upon the nearby 




Historic "Stone Bridge" across Bull Run 



11 



I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



Bird's Eye 

View of 

Herndon 




hills. One of the earliest skirmishes of the war took place on the edge of 
the town, five being killed and sixteen wounded of the Federal forces, while 
the Confederates loss is unknown. A fruitless crop of buttons, buckles, can- 
teens and bayonets was sown to be gathered in the peaceful years to come by 
the children, who often find bullets side by side with the flint arrows of the 
earlier Indian warriors. Survivors of the Civil War "come on pilgrimage," 
seeking the places where they fought and camped, and weep ofttimes at the 
wrong spot, and delight in "location assured." Each year finds these pilgrims 
fewer in number and more bent in form, and soon, yea too soon, there will 
be left none to come. 

The memory of those sad days has grown dim in Vienna. To-day the 
principal warfare of the town is centered in the clubs and secret societies, for 
which it is famed. Here can be found the Woman's Club, the Business 
Men's Club, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Masons, the 
Junior Order of the United Americans, the Odd-Fellows, the United Wood- 
men, the Good Templars, and the Village Improvement Society. 

The town has three white churches (the Presbyterian, Methodist, and 
Episcopal) and two colored churches (the Baptist and Methodist), and each 
of these has its own church building. 

Vienna is justly proud of her public schools, and can point with pride to 
the record made by her graduates, v/ho have done her credit in high schools 



12 



FAIRFAX 



O U N T Y. 



and Colleges. Advanced pupils take advantage of the educational opportuni- 
ties afforded in nearby Washington, and many go there daily. 

The Commuter is an important factor in the town of Vienna. Over fifty 
of the five hundred inhabitants of the town are employed in Washington, 
and go back and forth on some one of the steam or electric cars, leaving the 
town every hour. Vienna is surrounded by a fine farming and fruit-growing 
section, and with her unsurpassed railroad facilities, excellent water and 
healthy climate, will doubtless rival, if not surpass, many of the thrifty 
towns on the Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway. 

CuFTON, an incorporated town on the main line of the Southern Railway, 
twenty-seven miles southwest of Washington, is situated in a fertile valley 
on Pope's Head Creek, a branch of historic Bull Run. It is four miles from 
Manassas, five miles from Centreville, and nine miles from the first Bull Run 
battlefield. This beautiful little town is surrounded by pine-clad hills, af- 
fording many very desirable building sites. Numerous springs gush forth 
from these hills, affording an ample supply of pure soft water. The town 
contains a population of 200, with four churches, one graded school, a 
Masonic Lodge, two general merchandise stores, one butcher shop, one un- 
dertaker, one grist, saw, and planing mill, one livery stable, one hotel, and 
several boarding houses. One of the churches, the Presbyterian, is a beau- 
tiful Gothic structure, constructed of stone quarried from the nearby hills. 
The Baptist, Episcopal, and colored Baptist congregations, all occupy struc- 
tures well suited to their needs. 



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13 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



Residence of 

Lieut. -Gov. 

Jos. E. Willard 

Fairfax, Va. 




Clifton has an excellent graded school, conducted in a commodious and 
attractive building-. The higher department of this school aims to prepare 
pupils for the Washington city schools, which can be reached, at a small 
cost, by the main line of the Southern Railway. The town has an acetylene 
gas plant, affording excellent illumination for the streets, stores, and many 
dwellings. The business enterprises are all in a prosperous condition, and 
are in the hands of energetic, intelligent and broad-minded young men, who 
love their town, and who have borne conspicuous parts in its progress and 
development. With an attractive and healthy location, excellent railroad, 
telegraph and telephone facilities, and surrounded by a fine agricultural 
section, where dairying, stock and poultry-raising, and general farming can 
be followed with pleasure and profit, Clifton is destined to become one of the 
important towns on the main line of the Southern Railway. 

WeihlE, while in population the smallest town in the county, yet as a 
manufacturing and trading point is a town of no mean importance. The 
Weihle Manufacturing Company's plant is here. This enterprise, with a store 
and summer boarding houses, constitute the business interests of the town. 

Villages. 

In addition to the six incorporated towns, Fairfax County has a large 
number of villages of more or less importance. With respect to location, 



14 



A I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



these villages are either inland or on seme railroad. Among the former are 
Annandale, Langley, Lewinsville, Forestville, Dranesville, Floris, Chantilly, 
Centreville, and Accotink. Among the latter are West End, Burke's Station, 
Fairfax Station, on the main line of the Southern Railway, and Dunn-Loring 
and Wedderburn on the Bluemont branch of the saftie road. 

Annandale, on the Little River turnpike, midway between the town of 
Fairfax and the city of Alexandria, is a promising village, having a church, 
school, store and blacksmith shop. The people hereabout are engaged in 
dairying, trucking, and general farming. 

Langley, three miles from the "Chain Bridge" over the Potomac River, is 
a village of much promise, with a church, school, and blacksmith shop. This 
village is surrounded by one of the most fertile sections in the State. Here 
is Salona," elsewhere referred to, built in 1801, with brick imported from 
England, which sheltered Dolly Madison in her flight from the National 
Capital in 1814. Dairying, trucking and general farming, constitute the em- 
ployment of the people. The Great Falls and Old Dominion Electric Railway 
runs near, and real estate values are rapidly advancing. 

Lewinsville, a few miles west from Langley, is situated in a fine farming 
and fruit-growing section. It has a church, school, store, and blacksmith shop. 
The employment of the people is similar to that of Langley. 




15 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



Cedar Lane, 
Vienna. 




FoRESTviLLE is a thrifty village, near the Great i'alls of the Potomac, one 
of the great water-powers of the country, situated in a fine grazing and fruit- 
growing section. It has a church, store, and school, and has made rapid 
growth within the last few years. This village is not far from the terminus 
of the Great Falls and Old Dominion Electric Railway. 

Dr.iiNESVillE, hoary with age, is situated on the Middle Pike, one of the 
ways over which a part of Braddock's army marched in April, 1755. The 
country hereabout is high and rolling, and is well adapted to fruit-growing 
and general farming. Here were enacted some of the stirring scenes of the 
Civil War. Many of the buildings are of great age, and are objects of inter-** 
est to the thoughtful visitor. The village has a church, school, store, and 
blacksmith shop. 

Floris is one of the new villages of the county. It is situated three miles 
from Herndon, near Old Frying Pan Church, on the main thoroughfare be- 
tween Herndon and Chantilly. It has a graded school, church, store, and 
blacksmith shop, and is in the midst of a fine farming and stock-raising sec- 
tion. 

Chantili.y, on the Little River turnpike, seven miles from the town of 
Herndon, is one of the old villages of the county. Near this village was 
fought, while a terrific thunder-storm raged, a noted battle of the Civil War. 
It has a church, a two-room school building, store, postoffice, and blacksmith 
shop. The farms about the village are large, well watered, and splendidly 
adapted to grass. Near here is the celebrated Chantilly farm, on which is now 
being bred some of the finest stock ifi the country. Within a radius of five 
miles of the village can be found a section better suited to stock-raising than 
anywhere else in the State. 



16 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



CentrEvillE, seven miles from the town of Fairfax, is another old 
village. In olden times it was known as New Gate. It has two churches, a 
school, postoffice, store, and blacksmith shop. The land in the vicinity, while 
high and rolling, is fertile and well adapted to the raising of grass and grain. 
This village, being situated on the main thoroughfare between Washington 
and Manassas, many traces of the Civil War yet remain. Several times in 
the early "sixties" both armies pitched their tents on the hills surrounding 
the village. The earthworks then constructed still remain. 

ACCOTINK, two mile.s from Accotink Station on the R. F. and P. 
Railroad, is a village of great age. As elsewhere seen, it is situated 
on the old King's Highway, and was a busy place in Colonial times. It has 
a church, graded school, postoffice, two stores, and two blacksmith shops. 
The flouring mill here, which flourished in General Washington's time, is still 
in operation, turning out each year a large quantity of excellent flour. The 
vegetables and small fruits produced here are not only of fine quahty and 
flavor, but so well developed as to stand shipping, even to the distant Pitts- 
burg market. The old plantations here are fast being divided up into smaller 
ones, and practically where "One blade of grass grew before, two blades 
grow now." 

Oakton, midway between Fairfax and Vienna, on the Washington, Arling- 
ton and Falls Church Electric Railway, is a thriving village, containing two 
churches, a graded school, two stores, and a blacksmith shop. It is situated 
in a fine farming and fruit-growing section, and has in its midst, the largest 
plant and flower mail order business in the country. Here is grown annually 
c.bout two hundred thousand plants, the large part of which are roses and 
dahlias. Among these are one hundred and fifty varieties of roses, and two 
hundred varieties of dahlias. The fields of dahlias, in season, are a show in 




17 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

themselves, and in the months of September and October, are visited by many 
people. This village was formely known as Flint Hill, and was the scene of 
some military activity during the Civil War. 

West End, a suburb of Alexandria, in point of population, is one of the 
most important villages in Fairfax County. It was named for the West 
family, who held, under regal grant, the land on which the village was first 
projected. It is a community of four or five hundred inhabitants, having a 
church, a graded school, the union depot of all the railroads touching Alex- 
andria, a glass factory, distillery, several stores, the Alexandria Water Com- 
pany's plant, and the old Cameron Run Mills. The old Cameron Run Mills, 
now owned by the Roberts family, is an enterprise of great age. When 
Alexandria was only a frontier hamlet, these mills were in full operation. 
In this village reside many employees of the different railroads passing 
through, and other persons having business in Washington and Alexandria. 
Many of the residences are beautiful, modern structures, supplied with hot 
and cold water. Since the establishment of the union depot here. West End 
has taken on new life, and with its splendid natural advantages, no village in 
Virginia ofifers greater opportunities for manufacturing enterprises. 

Burke's Station, fourteen miles from Alexandria, on the main line of the 
Southern Railway, is an enterprising and promising village, with three stores, 
a school, private hall, saw and grist mill, and postoffice, from which is dis- 
tributed the mail for one of the principal rural routes of the county. Near 
here is the plant of the Fairfax Heading and Stave Company, which ships 
weekly large quantities of barrel stock to distant points. The village was 
named for the Burke family, the old heads of which bore in the past promi- 
nent parts in the industrial and official life of the county. Lumbering and 
general farming and dairying constitute the chief industries of the neigh- 
borhood. 

Fairfax Station, three miles from Fairfax, and eighteen miles from 
Alexandria, on the main line of the Southern Railway, is a progressive and 
enterprising village, having two stores, two churches, a school and black- 
smith shop. In addition to a large retail trade, one of the stores makes a 
specialty of jobbing, and enjoys a trade not surpassed by any country store 
south of Baltimore. General farming, dairying, and lumbering are the prin- 
cipal occupations of the people. The Fairfax Nurseries are near here, and 
annually ship large quantities of nursery stock both South and West. 

Bailey's Cross Roads, between Alexandria and Falls Church, on the 
Leesburg pike, is a village of some note. Between the village and Falls 
Church is the Mun>on Hill Nurseries, one of the oldest enterprises of the 
kind in the State. Here took place during the Civil War one of the greatest 
military reviews of the nineteenth century. Trucking, dairying and general 
farming are the chief occupations of the people. The village has a school, 
church, store and two lilacksmith shops. The land being high and rolling. 



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House on 

Chantilly 

Stock Farm. 




and for the location (six miles from Washington) very cheap, this village 
promises to become in the near future an important city suburb. 

Topography. 

The dividing line of what is known as Middle Virginia and the Piedmont 
Section, runs almost through the center, northeast and southwest, of Fairfax 
County. The eastern portion of the county lies at the head of tidewater ; but 
going westward, an altitude of about one hundred and fifty feet is quickly 
reached. This elevation gradually increases as you proceed west, reaching 
in many places an elevation of eight hundred feet. 

The topography of Fairfax presents a pleasing appearance. Everywhere 
there is a diversified surface and varying elevation, abounding in beautiful 
landscape features. From many places may be seen the Maryland shore, and 
the mountain ranges in Maryland and Virginia, forty and sixty miles distant. 

No section is more abundantly supplied with pure, soft water. There is 
not a square mile of surface in the county upon which cannot be found a 
running stream or bold spring. This water in many instances is impreg- 
nated with iron or magnesia, which imparts to it valuable medicinal prop- 
erties. It has been said that the water supply of this section is as pure as 
that of the Black Forest of Germany. 

The county is well drained by the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers, and 
their numerous tributaries. It is free from swamps and stagnant waters. 



20 



A I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



Its sanitary conditions are unexcelled. Indeed, it is the splendid topography 
of Fairfax that is attracting hundreds of people, seeking small farms and 
pleasant and healthy suburban homes. 

Geology and Soil Conditions. 

Soapstone, gray granite, and red sandstone are found in considerable 
quantities, and are being more or less quarried. There are also veins of 
asbestos, iron, copper and gold. As is well known, there are two well 
defined veins of gold traversing Virginia. They cross the State in a north- 
easterly and southwesterly direction. The eastern vein, which, so far, is the 
best defined and most promising one, starts at the Great Falls of the Poto- 
mac, in Fairfax County, and pursues almost a straight line, in a southeasterly 
direction, passing just south of the town of Vienna, through the village of 
Oakton, and thence on through Fairfax into Prince William County. Prac- 
tically no attempt to mine the ores of the county has been made since the 
Civil War ; but there is little doubt if well directed efforts, backed by suffi- 
cient capital, and directed by matured mining experience, were made, gold 
in paying quantities would be found; for there are few veins in the gold 
regions of the West, so well-defined and continuous, as this traversing the 
entire breadth of Fairfax. 

The character of the soil of Fairfax County varies according to the nature 




21 



FAIRFAX C O U N T V. 

of the rock from which it is formed. There is considerable sand near the 
Potomac River; then a wide belt of good clay, merging into a red sandstone 
country with a chocolate soil. Soil and surface conditions in the county are 
such as to render the entire county arable. The county is well and variously 
timbered. Pine, cak, chestnut, poplar, hickory, cedar, and locust are found, 
and the cutting and marketing of lumber is an extensive business. 

Climatic Conditions. 

Situated midway between the extremes of heat and cold, Fairfax is a 
happy medium, alike to those scorched by Southern suns or chilled by West- 
ern winds. Here, there is no occasion to dread the long, cold winters and 
deep snows of the North ; to fear the destructive cyclones of other sections, 
and the awful blizzards of the Northwest. The temperature rarely goes 
above ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, and seldom falls lower than five degrees 
above zero. The average temperature of the county is about fifty-six degrees. 
So mild is the climate here, that it is frequently possible to plow every month 
in the year. Snow rarely covers the ground for any great length of time. 
The number of bright, sunny days, even in the winter, is unusually large; in 
fact, the county is exceptionally free from extreme weather conditions, either 
of heat or cold, wind-storms or hurricanes. Such a thing as a dwelling house 
being blown over is unknown. The prevailing wind is westerly. 

In the amount and seasonableness of precipitation, the county is again 
favored. It seldom suffers from a severe droutli or serious flood. The rain- 
fall is about forty-three inches per annum, and remarkably well distributed 
through the year. There are two sources of rain supply, one from the At- 
lantic Ocean by the east winds, and from the Gulf of Mexico by the south 
winds. 

Industrial and Economic Conditions. 

Within the last few years the county has made marvelous industrial 
progress. Miles of electric railway have been built, and many more miles 
are still being constructed and projected. The great trunk line railways, 
running through the county, have recently doubled-tracked their ways, thereby 
doubling their capacity for handling the through and local traffic. Three 
banks have been recently organized, and are all now doing a large and 
flourishing business. New mills and factories, with large capital and capacity, 
are in full operation. Such is the country's recent record of progress, yet 
each day her industrial tidal wave reaches a higher mark. 

Hundreds of telephones have come into use, connecting every section of 
the county, and many homes, with the cities of Washington and Alexandria. 
New houses are everywhere appearing, and small, cheap homes are con- 
stantly being replaced by larger, more commodious, and more attractive 
dwellings. Fifty postoffices, and eighteen rural and star routes, conveniently 




c 
£ 

u 

'■00 

o 
o 

h 

a 
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a 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




and promptly distribute the mails to all parts of the county. So general is 
the rural delivery mail service here, that hardly a home is without its rural 
mail bo.x. There are ninety-six public schools, a number of elementary pri- 
vate schools, one high school, and one theological seminary. The public 
schools are all of a high order of efficiency, and many of them have been 
supplied with modern appliances. More than a dozen public schools have 
been provided with pianos or organs by popular subscription, thus indicating 
a high degree of interest on the part of the public in the schools. The funds 
available for public school purposes amount to over forty thousand dollars 
annually. This amount is steadily increasing each year, and in the near 
future a full school session of nine months will be maintained in every school 
district of the county. In addition to the county's excellent public and private 
schools, the splendid high school, college and university facilities of Wash- 
ington are conveniently available. Here the Fairfax youths, of both sexes, 
with only the small expense of railroad fare, can live at home and receive the 
necessary training for business or a profession. 

Any sketch of the educational advantages of Fairfax County without some 
extended notice of the Theological Seminary and the Episcopal High School 
would be far from complete. These institutions, from their establishment, 
have proven important factors in the educational life of the county. 



24 



A I R F A X 



COUNTY. 



The Theological Seminary. 

(Illustration page 23.) 

The Theological Seminary, situated on a commanding position, 250 feet 
above the Potomac River, three miles v^rest from Alexandria and seven miles 
from Washington, is one of the most celebrated institutions of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the United States. It was established in its present 
situation in 1827, and with its liberal patronage since, and generous donations 
from time to time, has become one of the best equipped institutions of the 
kind to be found. 

The Seminary is under the control of a self-perpetuating board of trus- 
tees, at present consisting of eighteen members. Prominent among the mem- 
bers of the present board are : Bishops Gibson, Randolph, Peterkin, Gravatt, 
and Tucker, of Virginia and West Virginia; Rev. R. H. McKim, of Washing- 
ton City; Col. Arthur Herbert, of Fairfax County; Rev. P. P. Phillips and 
Julian T. Burke, Esq., of Alexandria. The present faculty consists of Rev. 
Angus Crawford, Dean, and Rev. Samuel A. Wallis, Secretary to the 
Faculty, with Revs. Richard W. Micou, Robert K. Massie, Berryman Green, 
and Prof. Willoughby Reade. These are masters in their several lines, and 
have established for the Seminary a reputation second to none in the country. 

The Virginia Seminary, as this institution is frequently called, stands 
second on the list of those of the Episcopal Church in the number of students 
enrolled annually, the first being the General Seminary situated in New York 




FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

city. The average number of students in attendance for the last few years, 
has been about forty-six. The whole number of matriculated students from 
the foundation of the Seminary in 1827 to the present time is 1,965, of whom 
554 are now living. Thirty-nine Bishops of the Episcopal Church are enrolled 
among the alumni of the Seminary, of whom the Right Reverend L,eonidas 
Polk, "The warrior Bishop of Louisiana," one of the Confederate generals ; 
Gregory T. Bedell, of Ohio; William J. Boone, the Missionary Bishop of 
China; Richard H. Wilmer, of Alabama; Phillips Brooks, of Massachusetts, and 
Henry C. Potter, the present Bishop of New York, are among the most 
prominent. The Seminary has exerted a great influence upon the develop- 
ment of the Episcopal Church in this country. Many of its graduates have 
devoted themselves with untiring zeal to the work of home missions through- 
out the land, while others have filled a number of the largest parishes with 
conspicuous ability, both as pastors and preachers. 

Episcopal High School. 

One of the oldest preparatory schools for boys, under distinctly religious 
auspices, is the Episcopal High School, of Fairfax County. Seated upon a 
commanding plateau, three miles from Alexandria and seven miles from 
Washington, its elevation affords a magnificent view of these cities, the 
Potomac River, and the surrounding country for many miles. This school 
was established by Bishop Meade in 1839, its first session opening October 
15th of that year, with the Rev. Wm. N. Pendleton, a graduate of West 
Point, and afterwards Brigadier-General and Chief of Artillery in Lee's 
army. General Pendleton was succeeded in the principalship of the school 
by Revs. Edward A. Dalrymple, of Maryland, and John P. McGuire, of 
Virginia. Dr. McGuire was principal of the school at the outbreak of the 
Civil War, relinquishing his post on the day (March 24, 1861) the Federal 
troops entered Alexandria. For five years, from March 24, 1861, the school 
had no existence. Lying within the Federal lines, the continuance of its 
proper career was impossible. Its buildings were taken possession of and 
used for hospital purposes until the close of the war, thus inflicting great 
damage, not only to the buildings, but to the grounds as well. Fortunately 
for the school, however, the Rev. Wm. F. Gardner, of Alexandria, an 
alumnus of the school and the University of Virginia, and a wounded ex- 
Confederate officer, after the war, advanced the necessary money for the 
rehabilitation of the school, and became its principal for four years. Upon 
Dr. Gardner's resignation it was determined by the board of trustees to 
appoint a layman as his successor, and in July, 1870, Launcelot M. Blackford, 
A. M., himself a distinguished Confederate soldier, was designated, and the 
school forthwith entered upon a career of great prosperity and usefulness. 

From its proximity to the Theological Seminary, misapprehension fre- 
quently exists as to the character of the school, many supposing it simply 



26 




o 
o 

130 

£ 



08 
0, 
O 

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<n 

a 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 





Confederate Monument at Fairfax. 

preparatory to that institution. Such, however, is not the case. While the 
same board of trustees controls both properties, yet there is no connection 
whatever between them. The Episcopal High School is now the oldest 
school for boys under the control of the Episcopal Church in the United 
States, and numbers among its graduates prominent men in every walk of 
life. At least seventy, including five Bishops, have entered the sacred 
ministry, and many more the other learned professions. 

General Remarks. 

There are sixty-one church buildings for white congregations in the 
county, representing all shades of religious belief. These church buildings 
are very generally attractive, commodious, and well attended. 



28 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 



There are two county newspapers, well edited, and widely read. One of 
these papers, the Fairfax Herald, has been continuously published for more 
than a quarter of a century. 

Indeed the county's proximity and accessibility to Washington, her excep- 
tional educational advantages, her numerous telephone lines and rural mail 
routes, have all promoted a high state of culture amongst her people. 

The financial condition of the county is excellent. There is no bonded 
indebtedness, and a safe balance is maintained in the treasury. The tax rate 
is one dollar and ten cents per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation, 
which is usually about one-third of the real value. While this tax rate is 
apparently reasonable, it is in reality very low. 

Land values have enormously increased within the last few years ; prob- 
ably a fair average of this increase for the county would be fifty per centum 
in six or eight years. With a low rate of taxation, and such rapid increase 
in real estate values recently, large amounts of money is frequently seeking 
investment in Fairfax land. The population of Fairfax County, according 
to the census of 1900, was 18,580. The population now (1907) is reliably 
estimated to be in excess of 20,000. 

Productions. 

While Fairfax County offers attractive inducements to the suburban set- 
tler, and many of her farms are being subdivided for such purposes, yet she 
takes high rank as an agricultural section. Her agricultural status is most 
thrifty and promising. This is evidenced by the variety and volume of her 
farm products, and the spirit of her farmers. 

Many of the farmers are members of Farmers' Clubs, Poultry and Fruit 
Associations. Probably one of the oldest Farmers' Associations in the 
Union is the Woodlawn Farmers' Club, of Fairfax County. For forty-one 
years this club has continued, without a single break, to hold its monthly 
meetings, and the benefits to the farming interests of the county, resulting 
from the good work of this Association, are seen and felt in other sections 
as well as in the Woodlawn Settlement. 

Under favorable conditions, seventy-five bushels of corn, thirty bushels of 
wheat, and two tons of hay are not uncommon yields. While perhaps the 
average yield per acre is not equal to that of the fertile fields of the West, 
yet the average value per acre of that yield equals, and in many instances 
exceeds, that of the Middle and Far West. Certainly, nowhere are markets 
closer or prices higher than here. A fair average price for several years 
would be eighty cents per bushel for wheat, sixty cents per bushel for corn, 
seventy cents per bushel for Irish potatoes, twenty dollars per ton for hay, 
thirty cents per pound for butter, and thirty cents per dozen for eggs. These 
prices can frequently be obtained on the farm, and if it be necessary to move 
the produce, your wagon will afford the means of transportation, and you 



29 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 



can then be both producer and seller, considerations of leading importance. 
Upon tlie soil, climate and market depends the success of the tillers of the 
soil, and these three factors are decidedly in favor of Fairfax; so much so 
that it is possible to successfully engage in any one of the various lines of 
farming. In the eastern part of the county trucking is very generally and 
profitably pursued. Many of these truckers can draw handsome checks with 
little embarrassment. Large yields of all the leading vegetables are obtained, 
and remunerative prices secured in markets only a few miles distant. 

Dairying is an important industry in the county. The great bulk of the 
milk supply of the cities of Washington and Alexandria comes from Fair- 
fax. Every morning thousands of gallons of Fairfax milk, by train, trolley 
and wagon, enter these cities. Every year hundreds of dairy cows are 
brought into the county to supply the demand, and many more hundreds are 
profitably raised. A good dairy cow will bring from forty to sixty dollars. 
The feeding of so many dairy cows is rapidly bringing many farms here up to 
a state of great fertility. The raising of live stock is now receiving con- 
siderable attention. There are several large stock farms in the county, and 
many herds of well-bred cattle, sheep and hogs; yet the county is just awak- 
ening to the great possibilities awaiting this enterprise. With the fine blue 
grass pastures that can be maintained in many sections of Fairfax, stock- 
raising, in the near future, must become one of the leading industries of the 
county. 

Practically every farm has a perennial and pure stream of water. No- 
where can the forage crops be better grown. The legume family, such stock- 
producers and soil-improvers, are at home here; while right at our doors are 
markets and meat-packing houses that will take one head, or a carload of 
stock, at the highest market price. 

Poultry-raising is attracting attention, and is fast assuming large propor- 
tions. The rolling surface, well-drained and sandy soil, together with the 
mild and ecjuable climate of the county, adapt it splendidly to poultry-raising. 
Nothing sells more readily, or commands, in proportion, better prices in the 
Washington market, than the products of the poultry yard. With poultry 
fifteen and twenty cents per pound, and eggs twenty-five to forty cents per 
dozen, it is possible for the poultryman to carry to market (by trolley) in a 
basket more value than an acre of corn in Kansas represents. There are 
persons here making more profit from a few acres raising poultry than many 
of the large prairie farmers of Illinois are making feeding steers. Here, 
under pleasant skies, are people making more money selling eggs from a 
back yard than the storm-swept and snow-bound Dakota farmer is making 
selling wheat from his vast fields. Some pleasant features about poultry- 
raising, in addition to its profits, are its continuous income, small area, and 
capital required, and comparative independence from the labor problem, now 
so seriously affecting general farming operations. 



30 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY 



Residence 

of Prof. 

M. D. Hall, 

County 

Supt. of 

Schools. 




Fruit. 

Nowhere is a greater variety and profusion of wild fruits found than in 
Fairfax. Here may be seen volunteer trees of the apple, peach, pear, plum, 
persimmon, cherry, haw and mulberry. There may also be found in abun- 
dance the strawberry, huckleberry, blackberry, raspberry, and several varieties 
of grapes, as well as the chestnut, hazelnut, chinkapin, walnut and hickory- 
nut. This variety and profusion of wild fruits, certainly indicates the adap- 
tability of our soil and climate to the cultivated fruits. Virginia is a great 
fruit State. She ranks near the head, in the sisterhood of States, in the 
value of her fruit products. Fairfax County formerly lead all the counties 
of the State in this industry. To-day Fairfax has over twenty-seven thousand 
pear trees (nearly three times as many as any other county in the State) ; 
ninety-three thousand peach trees (fourth county in the State in the number 
of peach trees), and one hundred and eighteen thousand apple trees. There 
are more than two hundred and fifty thousand fruit trees in the county, and 
thousands of additional trees of every variety are being planted each fall and 
spring. Grape culture is also assuming considerable proportions, and some 
of the vineyards of Fairfax, in quantity and quality of output, compare favor- 
ably with old grape-growing sections. 

The county has recently appropriated one thousand dollars towards the 



FAIR 



A X 



COUNTY. 



suppression of insect pests and fungus diseases of the orciiard. These mala- 
dies prevail in all fruit regions of the country, and Fairfax is one of the few 
counties of the State to take a determined stand, with money to sustain it, 
against the encroachments of these pests upon her orchards. Certainly no 
county south of the Potomac, in this respect, has acted so wisely and vigor- 
ously. This movement argues well for the future fruit industry of the 
county. Fruit-growing here is favored by splendid natural advantages. 
Many sections of the county are well elevated and rolling, affording excellent 
soil and atmospheric drainage. Much of the surface soil is a loamy and 
gravelly clay, conditions highly favorable to fruit culture. Here all hardy 
fruits can be grown, and well developed, colored and flavored as any found 
on our market. Washington City affords an excellent market for all the 
fruit that Fairfax County can grow. In many places in our State the fruit- 
grower suffers much from a lack of facilities to move his. crop, and often 
misplaced confidence in middle men. Here he is master of these conditions. 
Whatever may be grown here, the grower is sure of a convenient market and 
a fair price. 

Final. 

Hundreds of farmers from the North, South, East, and West have settled, 
and are settling, in Fairfax County. As a rule these settlers are contented and 
prosperous, and have no desire to return to the sections from which they 

Herndon 

Packing 

House 




33 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 



came. If there be anywhere any home-seeker who desires to locate con- 
venient to the best market and most beautiful city in the world; who is seek- 
ing a genial climate and good sanitary conditions, where educational, social 
and religious opportunities are unsurpassed, and who wishes to pursue any 
special line of farming, fruit-growing, or stock-raising, he can find in Fairfax 
County, lands, locations, and conditions ideally suited to his purpose. 




«M3I 



litiilnnral 



Fairfax County was founded in 1742, and named in honor of Lord 
Fairfax. It is situated in the northeastern portion of Virginia, seventy-eight 
miles from Richmond, and lies on the western bank of the Potomac River, 
in close proximity to the cities of Washington, D. C, and Alexandria, Va. 
It has an area of 433 square miles, and contains a population of 20,000. 

No section of our country is richer in historical data. On every hill-top, 
in every valley, beside every stream and roadway, in every direction the eye 
may range, some trace or landmark can be found to remind one of our 
country's history and the important part borne therein by Fairfax people. 

Being by nature favorably located, this was one of the first sections of the 
State to attract the attention of the adventurous spirits of Colonial times. 
Soon after the settlement of Jamestown in 1607, Captain John Smith engaged 
in a number of exploring expeditions, during one of which he ascended the 
Potomac River as far as the Great Falls, and landed in what is now a part 
of Fairfax County. Previous to this no human eye save that of the roving 
red man had ever rested on the hills and vales, hereabout. Smith and his 
comrades had seen the rivers of Europe, but these were tiny streams com- 
pared with the broad and majestic Potomac. They were delighted with all 
they saw ; and after many exciting experiences with the Indians, who were 
represented as a brave and warlike people, Captain Smith and his companions 
returned to Jamestown, little dreaming that they had discovered a section 
of country near which, in less than two and a half centuries, would stand the 
capital of "Time's greatest empire." 

In the year 1634, twenty-seven years after the landing of the English 
colonists at Jamestown, the various settlements which had been made by 
them over the new territory, were by act of the General Assembly of the 
province, organized into eight distinct shires or counties, with the following 
names and locations: The Isle of Wight, west of the James River; Henrico, 
Warwick, Elizabeth City, James City, and Charles City, between the James 
and Rappahannock Rivers, and N6rthampton, on the eastern shore of the 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Chesapeake Bay. In 1648 the isolated settlements whicli had been made at 
Chicoen, on the shores of the lower Potomac, were organized into another 
county, with the name of Northumberland. The boundaries of this county 
were defined as embracing all that territory lying between the Potomac and 
Rappahannock Rivers and extending from the Chesapeake Bay to the head- 
waters of said rivers, high up in the Alleghany Mountains. This was known 
as the "Northern Neck," and by inheritance became the sole possession of 
Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, through a royal grant of Charles II to his 
grandfather, Thomas, Lord Culpeper. With the rapid accession of immi- 
grants from the mother country, the tide of colonization advanced steadily 
up the rivers and their tributaries, and in 1653 was organized the county of 
Westmoreland. From Westmoreland, in 1673, was formed the county of 
Stafford. From Stafford, in 1730, was or'ganized the county of Prince 
William, and from Prince William, in 1742, was formed the county of 
Fairfax. This county, when first founded, was one of the frontier counties 
of the State, 'it then extended from the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers to the 
Blue Ridge Mountains, and included within its boundaries the present 
counties of Loudoun and Alexandria. From the signing of the treaty of 
Fontainebleau in 1762, the settlers in Fairfax enjoyed comparative safety 
from Indian depredations. Settlements spread, and the settlers experienced 
a period of great prosperity. Captain John Smith's predictions were more 
than verified. The country proved to be a highly favored and inviting one, 
and in due course of time progressive and intelligent settlers began to locate 
iicre. The broad Potomac and its tributaries were well stocked with fish and 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



Capt. Franklin 

Sherman's 

Residence, 

Built by 

Lord Fairfax. 




water-fowl, and wild game of every description abounded on land. Xot only 
was the soil then, as now, rich and productive, but it was soon found to con- 
tain mineral deposits; and one of the first iron furnaces in America was 
established at Colchester, in this county, where, during the Revolutionary 
War, John Ballentine manufactured cannon and other munitions of war for 
the American army. 

The Hon. William Fairfax, a cousin to the Lord Proprietor, who had es- 
tablished a home (Belvoir) on a large tract of land just below Mount Ver- 
non, and George Brent and William Fitzhugh, the first land agents on the 
North American continent, were empowered to sell and issue patents for all 
unsettled lands in the "Northern Neck." Many of these patents, written on 
parchment and signed by his Lordship, well preserved, are still in the pos- 
session of the descendants of the original patentees; and in some instances 
parts of the lands originally granted, are still held by the descendants of the 
original grantees. 

Early Settlers. 

The early settlers in what is now Fairfax County were the Fairfaxes, 
Washingtons, Masons, Brents, Broadwaters, Fitzhughs, McCartys, Hooes, 



38 



Alexanders, Wests, Dudleys, Grahams, Coffers, Tripletts, Turleys, Paynes, 
Ellzeys, Carlyles, and others; and nearly all these names are to-day repre- 
sented in the county by the descendants of these original settlers. These were 
the men who, two and a half centuries ago, marked the bounds of the home- 
steads, laid the hearth-stones, established the neighborhoods, and assisted in 
erecting the altars of a great Commonwealth. They felled the forests, whose 
leaves the autumn winds had been scattering for centuries, and prepared the 
virgin soil for corn and tobacco. The timber being of little value, the trees 
were "girdled," and when dead, were felled, cut into logs, rolled together in 
great heaps and burned. The "burnings" not only made red the skies of the 
autumn evenings, but afforded for the resident and neighboring negroes occa- 
sions for great jollification. With Old Jamaica and other kindred grogs, 
night was made hideous with African jollity. 

Tobacco. 
From the first, tobacco was the staple product of the soil. It was deemed 
by the early planter the sine qua non of his existence. Its production, supply, 
demand and price, were the all-absorbing topics on every occasion. It was 
interwoven with every thread of early Fairfax life. Acts of the Legislature 
of the province were passed regulating its culture, and one prerogative of the 
vestry of the Established Church was to appoint "Frocessioners" to make and 
return an enumeration of all the tobacco plants in the parish. The salaries 
of the ministers and civil officers were paid in the "weed." Notes represent- 
ing tobacco in the warehouses were the currency of the county. The salary 
of a minister was 16,000 pounds of tobacco per annum, which varied in value 
from $200 to $400. The salaries of the members of the House of Burgesses, 
and all court charges and fines, were paid in tobacco. The sheriff was paid 
for whipping a person, twenty pounds ; for putting an offender in the stocks, 
ten pounds ; for pillorying a person, twenty pounds ; for ducking a scolding 
woman, twenty pounds, and for hanging a felon, two hundred and fifty 
pounds. The clerk of the court received for recording a deed, one hundred 
and fifty pounds ; for probating a will, fifty pounds, and for issuing a marriage 
license, twenty pounds. The members of the House of Burgesses each re- 
ceived one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco per day for his services, 
and the travelling expenses of each member for Fairfax County to and from 
Williamsburg were 1,440 pounds. A fine of fifty pounds of tobacco was 
levied against him who absented himself from divine service for ihc space of 
two months. Thus tobacco, for many years, was the main hope and wealth 
of the people. So important was this commodity that the General Assemljly 
ordered the erection of commodious warehouses at Occoquan "Ferry," and on 
the Potomac River at the mouth of Great Hunting Creek. Here all the to- 
bacco coming in by the various "Rolling" roads had to be stored for inspec- 
tion. These two points were made ports of entry, and soon became busy 
marts of traffic, sending out for many years, by ships of foreign ports, cargoes 



39 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Public School, 
Fairfax. 



ct tLb;;cjo and other valuable products. From this small beginning in 1748 
sprang the city of Alexandria, then within the bounds of Fairfax. The land 
dedicated for it was vested in the Right Honorable Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 
the Hon. William Fairfax, George William Fairfax, Richard Osborne, Law- 
rence Washington, Wm. Ramsey, John Carlyle, John Pagan, Gerrard Alex- 
ander, Hugh West, and Philip Alexander. The Occoquan "Ferry" ware- 
house was in the town of Colchester, which was incorporated in 1753. The 
charters of both towns contained very much the same provisions, and were 
secured by the influence of Major Lawrence Washington (a brother of 
General Washington), who then represented Fairfax County in the House 
of Burgesses. 

The Ducking Stool. 

In the foregoing sketch it is stated that twenty pounds of tobacco was the 
sheriff's fee for ducking a scolding woman. The ducking stool, as an in- 
strument of punishment, like tlie common law, came down to us from our 
English ancestors. We read of this mode of punishment in the English 
chronicles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Scolding women in 
that time were deemed offenders against the public peace. Blackstone, in 
his "Commentaries on the Laws of England," treats of the common scold in 
his ciiapter on "Public Wrongs." in his classification of nuisances, he says: 
"Lastly, a common scold, coinmuitis rixatrix, is a public nuisance to her neigh- 
borhood. She may be indicted, and if convicted, placed in a certain engine 



41 



F A I 



A X 



COUNTY. 



Public 

School, 

Accotink. 




of correction, called the trebuckctt castigatory, or cucking stool, which in the 
Saxon language is said to signify the scold stool, though now it is frequently 
corrupted into ducking stool, because the residue of the judgment is that 
when she is placed thereon she shall be plunged in water lor her punish- 
ment." Mission, in his "Travels in England," in the seventeendi ceir.ury, 
writes : "The way of punishing scolding women is pleasant enough. They 
fasten an arm-chair to the ends of two beams, twelve or fifteen feet long, 
and parallel to each other, so that these two pieces of wood, with their two 
ends, embrace the chair, which hangs between them upon a sort of axle, by 
which means it plays freely, and always remains in the natural horizontal 
position in which the chair should be, that a person may sit conveniently in 
it, whether you raise it or let it down. They set up a post on the bank of a 
pond or river, and over this post they lay, almost in equilibrium, the two 
pieces of wood, at one end of which the chair hangs over the water." The 
poets of this time made their thrusts at the ducking stool. Butler, in his 
"Hudibras," says : 

"March proudly to the river side. 
And o'er the waves in triumph ride." 
In 17S0 West wrote a complete poem on the stool, the whole philosophy 
of which lies in the following couple; : 

"Xo brawling wives, no furious wenchss. 
No fire so hot but water quenches." 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Interior of 
Public School 
Bnildins, 
Accotink 



Quaint Laws. 

Some of the laws enacted in the early days of the Colony were strangely 
out of harmony with present conditions. In 1662 it was declared that "Every 
person who refuses to have his child baptized by a lawful minister shall be 
emerced 2,000 pounds of tobacco, half to the parish, half to the informer." 

Again : "Church Wardens shall present, at the County Court, twice every 
year, in April and December, such misdemeanors of swearing, drunkenness, 
fornication, etc., as by their own knowledge or common fame have been com- 
mitted during their being Church Wardens." 

Hog stealing in the olden times was punished with great severity. The law 
on this subject provided that "To steal or unlawfully to kill any hog that is 
not his, on sufficient proof, the ofifender shall pay to the owner 1,000 pounds 
of tobacco, and as much to the informer; and in case of inability, shall serve 
two years, one to the owner and one to the i'.iformer." In 1679 this law was 
enlarged as follows : "Tlie first offence of hog stealing shall be punished 
according to the former law ; upon a second conviction, the offender shall 
stand two hours in the pillory, and lose his ears; and for the third off'cnce, 
he shall be tried by the laws of England, as in case of felony." 

The law in relation to tlie ducking stool, whipping post, stocks and pillory 
was as follows : "The court in every county shall cause to be set up near 
the courthouse, a pillory, a pair of stocks, a whipping post, and a ducking 
stool, in such place as they shall think convcni.'n: ; wliich not being set up 



43 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 




Public School, 
Falls Churcli. 



1 



within six months after the date of this act, the said court shall be fined 5,000 
povmds of tobacco." Again it was provided that "All ministers officiating in 
any public cure, and six of their family, shall be exempt from public taxes." 

In 1662 it was enacted that "Every master of a ship or vessel that shall 
bring in any Quaker to reside here, after July next, shall be fined 5,000 pounds 
of tobacco, to be levied by distress and sale of his goods, and enjoined to carry 
him, her, or them, out of the country again." 

In 1755, the year of the Braddock war, this Act was passed by the General 
Assembly : "That the sum of ten pounds shall be paid by the Treasurer of 
the Colony to any person or persons for every Indian enemy above the age 
of twelve years by him or them taken prisoner, killed or destroyed within the 
limits of the Colony at any time within the space of two years after the 
end of this Assembly." 



44 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Public School, 
Oakton. 



s 



Courts and Quaint Court Records. 

The monthly County Court system of Fairfax County obtained for two 
hundred and seventy-five years — from 1628 until it v/as abolished by the late 
Constitutional Convention in 1903. 

While a colony, and after it became a county, the first sessions of the 
court were probably held in the town of Colchester. The first minutes of the 
court were lost, or have not been preserved. The first entry on the 
minute-book of the court was made at a session held in the town of Col- 
chester in the year 1742. This was an order of the court removingJ;he county 
records from Colchester to the new courthouse, which had been built on the 
old Braddock road, less than two miles north of the present town of Vienna. 
On account of the active hostilities of the Indians, the county seat, within 
a few years, was removed to Alexandria, then a part of Fairfax County, 
where the' County Court was held until the third Monday in April, 1800, 
when its first session was held in the present courthouse. Among the gentle- 
men who served the county as justices were: William and George Fairfax, 
George Washington, Lewis Elzy, Chas. Broadwater, John West, Daniel 
McCarty, John Turley, and others. The clerks of the Court from the found- 
ing of the county to the removal of the courthouse from Alexandria to its 
present site, in their order of service, were : Catesby Cooke, John Graham, 
Peter Wagoner, and George Dcneale. All county officials were then re- 
quired to take this oath : "We do declare that there is no transubstantiation 



45 



F A I 



A X 



COUNTY. 



Public 
School, 
Vienna. 




'«£?r'«aSV«iSa»*l 



in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper or in the Elements of Bread and Wine 
at or after consecration thereof by any means whatsoever. I declare that I 
will act conformably to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of Eng- 
land." 

There is much in the records of the court of Fairfax County to interest 
the antiquarian. The quaint orders of court, and the lengthy and peculiar 
wills of the old-time people, reflect in no small degree, the customs and prac- 
tices of our people two centuries ago. 

The last will and testament of General Washington was admitted to 
record in the County Court of Fairfax County, January 20, 1800. This docu- 
ment contains over one thousand words, and is recorded in Liber H, No. i, 
folio I. The original paper is in the handwriting of Washington, and, as 
elsewhere stated, is sacredly preserved in a glass-covered case stored in a 
fire-proof vault, where hundreds of people annually come to view it. 

Not only the last wills of Washington, Mason, and other distinguished 
Fairfax citizens, who were conspicuous in the civil, military and political 
life of the county and State a century ago, but the quaint orders and other 
records of the old-time court, as seen in old minute books, attract the atten- 
tion and arouse the interest of every one in any way imbued' with the anti- 
quarian spirit. These orders, or minutes, while bearing no connected rela- 
tion to each other, are interesting from the fact that they often refer to 
people more or less noted in the history of the county, and afford some idea 
of the men and events of those early days. Many of these orders the writer 



46 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 




Residence 
of Mr. J. S. 
Pearson. 



would be pleased to give, but the limitation of time and space under which 
he writes will not permit, therefore let a few extracts, taken at random from 
these old minute books, suffice. 

Under date of May 21, 1760, the followings report of the grand jury was 
recorded : 

"We present George William Fairfax, George Washington, John Carlylc, 
Daniel French, Robert Bogges, Catesby Cocke, Townsend Dade, Subill West, 
Gerrard Alexander, Jemima Minor, William Ramsey, Benj amine Grayson, 
George Mason, John Plummer, Daniel McCarty, and Abraham Barnes for 
not entering their wheel carriages agreeably to law as appears to us by the 
list delivered to the Clerk of the County." 

These were the most prominent people of the county. If any one reading 
these lines should conclude from the foregoing transcript that the "Immortal 
George" and his prominent neighbors were "tax-dodgers," if he is now, or 
should be in the future, guilty of the same sin, let him console himself with 
the thought that "History is only repeating itself." 

In the olden time the Court fixed the rates to be charged for public en- 
tertainment (including drinks of every kind and stableage for horses) by the 
inn-keepers. These rates, as fixed by the Court, had to be posted at least 
six feet high on the door of every inn in the county. The following is taken 
from the schedule of rates ordered by the Court, March 20, 1755: 



A I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



"For a hot diet with small beer or cider is. od. 

For a cold diet os. 6d. 

For a quart of Madeira 2s. 6d. 

For a gill of rum made into punch with loaf sugar. ... os. 6d. 

For ditto with brown sugar os. od. 

For a gallon of corn or oats os. 4d. 

Stableage and fodder for a horse 24 hours or one night, os. 6d. 

For a night's lodging with clean sheets, 6d., otherwise nothing." 
During the years I7SS-6, many gentlemen produced in court their military 
commissions, and took the oath required by law. Many indictments were 
found against prominent citizens for not keeping certain roads in order, and 
for not attending church regularly. 

Jeremiah Moore, after making various bequests in his will, adds : "All 
the remainder of my estate I give unto my beloved wife, Lydia Moore, — — — ■ 
But she shall not be required to take out letters of administration, give any 
security or have any appraisement, whatever the law may say to the con- 
trary notwithstanding, for I have more confidence in her justice, integrity and 
uprightness than in all the Courts that ever set, either in this Commonwealth 
or elsewhere." 

One lady willed numerous locks of her hair to be made into mourning 
rings to be worn by her relatives, r.nd also adds: "T will and bequeath my 



Old Colvin 
Run Mill, 
tSuilt 1794. 







48 



FAIRFAX 



C O U X T 



'Vauxcluese" 

Residence of 

Prof. E. F. 

Andrews 




stand to . l)ut the top at present does not on its bottom," evidently 

meaning- that "the top at the present does not stand on the bottom." 

Wm. H. Foote, at one time a prominent man here, and believed to be the 
ancestor of Senator Foote, of Mississippi, when old, married a yonng and 
beautifnl girl, and these clauses are found in his will : "I will and bequeath 
the balance of my estate to my wife for and during her widowhood and her 
natural life, with the horses, &c. If. however, she cease to be my widow or 
marry again, she must account for all these things and take her dower at 
law. It is not my purpose to give any Cur a sop." In this same will the 
kindly feeling existing between master and servant is plainly shown by the 
following extracts : "My slaves I recommend to the kindness and care of 
my wife and Executor. ... I give to the grown ones twenty dollars per 
annum being males, and ten to females. ... I can not emancipate them in 
this State, and I know not where to send them, they must therefore look 
to my dear wife as their protector, . . . she and my Executor will do them 
justice and friendship. Bob Foy is one of nature's nobility. In 46 years of 



50 



trust I liavc never found him in fal.-ehood or prevarication; for truth, faith 
and honesty he could have no superior. He must receive $25 per annum 
from my wife and end his da.ys where he now is. . . . All my servants are 
good, trusty and true, and T bid them a long farewell with a sorrowful 
heart." Many more interesting transcripts from these old records could Ije 
taken, but space will not permit. 

Washington's Wealth. 

General Washington, at the time he prepared his last will and testament, 
July 9, 1799, w-as not only the most extensive farmer, but one of the richest 
men in the United States. To his will he attached a schedule, setting out in 
detail, with full explanatory notes, the location, kind and value of all the 
property owned by him, except the slaves, and the real estate held by him on 
his Fairfax plantation. Without any attempt to present an exact copy, ex- 
cept as to quantity and price, this schedule is as follows : 

3,666 acres in Loudoun and Faquier Counties, valued at $3^^.556 

2,236 acres in Berkley County, valued at 44,7-^0 

571 acres in Frederick County, valued at 11, 4-20 

240 acres in Hampshire County, valued at 3,600 

400 acres in Gloucester County, valued at 3,600 

T,yT, acres in X'ansemond County, valued at. . . ■ -2.9i^4 

9,744 acres on the Ohio River, value4 ''tt 97,440 

23,341 acres on the Great Kanahwa, valuecl at 200,000 

1,119 acres in Charles and Montgomery Counties, Md 9,828 

234 acres in the Great Meadows, Pennsylvania, valued at 1.404 

1.000 acres in New York, valued at N 6,000 

3,051 acres in the Northwest Territory, valued at 15,^51 

5,000 acres in Kentucky, valued at tcooo 

Alaking a total of 50,975 acres of land, valued at $444,803 

10 lots in the cities of Alexandria and Washington -23. t3^ 

2 lots in Winchester 400 

I lot at Warm Springs 800 

Aggregate value of real estate outside of Fairfax $469,135 

Stocks and bonds, valued at 25,212 

Personal property, excepting slaves, on Fairfax farms t5-^'5.3 

Great Dismal Swamp interest, valued at 20,000 

Grand total ". $530,000 

In addition to the above, the General owned 5,500 acres of land in Fairfax 
County. This land was divided into four farms, as follows: Clifton Neck 
or River Farm, of 2,000 acres; Mansion House l-'arm, of 1,200 acres; Union 



51 



AIRFAX COUNTY. 



Farm, of i,ooo acres, and Dogue Run Farm, of 1,300 acres. To cultivate 
these, he kept constantly employed some 250 to 300 negroes. In 1787 we find 
this memorandum of his farm operation : 580 acres in grass, 400 acres in 
oats, 700 acres in wheat, 700 acres in corn, with several hundred acres in 
barley, buckwheat, potatoes, peas, beans, and tuimips. Washington's live 
stock consisted at this time of 140 horses, 120 cows, 226 work oxen, heifers 
and steers, 500 sheep, and almost numberless hogs running at large in the 
woodlands and marshes. In this year he slaughtered 150 hogs for the use of 
his family and negroes. 

As late as 1854 there were only three white families living on the 5,500 
acres formerly owned by Washington ; now there are some forty families, who 
cultivate and own farms which were originally a part of the Washington 
property, ranging in size from 25 to 300 acres, with values from fifty to five 
hundred dollars per acre. 




52 



Ststittqntiihrii iFaii'fax (£ttt2iniB 



George Washington. 

Among the early settlers of Fairfax County were men who, by their energy, 
good sense, and strength of character, not only left a lasting impress for good 
on the communities in which they established their primitive homes, but 
men who bore a conspicuous and important part in the making of the State 
and Nation. 

George Washington, the true patriot, the brave soldier, the wise states- 
man and model citizen, settled in Fairfax County in his early manhood. 
Mount Vernon, his home, situated in this county, on the beautiful Potomac, 
was inherited from his brother, Lawrence Washington, who died Jul}^ 22, 
1752. He was engaged for several years in the French and Indian wars; but 
while the harassing cares of his Indian campaigns had taken his attention 
from his beautiful estate, yet these cares had not wholly monopolized his 
thoughts. If the veil of romantic tradition, hanging over this time, could be 
lifted, a pleasing story of love and courtship would be revealed. The charm- 
ing widow Custis had won the heart of him who was destined to become the 
world's greatest hero. On the 17th day of January, 1759, at St. Peter's 
Church, near the bride's home in New Kent County, Virginia, amid a joyous 
throng of relatives and friends, Martha Custis, formerly Martha Dandrigde, 
the charming belle of the vice-regal court of William'sburg, became the bride 
of George Washington. At this home (the "White House") the honey- 
moon was spent, and it was not until the budding of the trees on the Fairfax 
plantation, announced the approach of spring, that they took up their resi- 
dence in the Mount Vernon home, of which Washington, in a letter to a 
friend, stated : "No estate in America is more pleasantly situated." This 
home was no strange place to him. When his brother Lawrence came up 
from the lower Potomac to Mount Vernon, George came with him, and here 
he remained until Lord Fairfax needed his services in establishing, with 
compass and chain, the metes and bounds of his extensive possessions in the 
Shenandoah Valley. With angling rod and gun he had roamed, time and 
again, over the vast domain of his brother, until there was hardly a spot 
that had not known his presence. Soon after the return of Washington with 
his bride to Mount Vernon, he wrote to a friend : "I am now, I believe, fixed 
in this seat, with an agreeable partner for life, and I hope to find more hap- 
piness in retirement than I ever experienced in the wide, bustling world." 



53 



A I 



A X 



COUNTY. 







Washington's Sixteen-Sided Barn. 

With this sentiment dominant in his mind, Washington set to work, making 
many improvements and additions to the former residence of his brother. He 
built commodious barns and outhouses; added by purchase many acres to his 
already large estate, and engaged in agriculture in the most careful, sys- 
tematic and extensive manner. As a farmer Washington was not satisfied 
to follow the methods prevailing among his neighbors and friends ; but at an 
early period in his farming operations, he put into use new and better meth- 
ods of farm practice. He early adopted a valuable and methodical system 
of crop rotation. He planted orchards of the best fruit then known; em- 
ployed the newest and best farm implements, the best seed, and most im- 
proved stock then obtainable. 

Washington had an inventive, as well as a systematic, turn of mind, and 
hence was always devising some new and b.^ter method lor performing the 
varied work on his large estate. The old and unwieldy implements, such as 
ploughs, harrows, hoes and axes, then in use. were greatl)' improved liy him. 



54 



AIRFAX COUNTY. 



His sixteen-sided barn of brick and wood, sixty feet in diameter, and two 
stories high, was the wonder of Washington's day. The treading-out floor, 
ten feet .wide, was in the second story, rnnning all around center mows, and 
approached by an inclined plane. This floor was constructed with open slats, 
so that the -grain, withotit the straw, might fall through the floor below. 
Later he had constructed a device, worked by horse-power, by which the heads 
of wheat sheaves, held on a table against rapidly revolving arms, were beaten 
out. This was probably the first step in the evolution, from the hoof and 
flail, towards the steam-power thresher of the present day. Washington, in- 
stead of trusting his farming operations to overseers, gave his personal atten- 
tion to every detail of this work. He carried into the management of his 
rural afl^airs the same systematic method, untiring energy and wise circum- 
spection that distinguished him in his military life. He made a complete 
survey of all his lands, divided them into farms of convenient and suitably 
size, and supervised and regulated the cultivation of them all. The products 
of his estate became so noted for faithfulness in quality and quantity, that 
any shipments, bearing the name of "George Washington, Mount Vernon," 
were exempted from the customary inspection in the ports to which they 
were sent. With such system and exact method was all his work planned 
and executed, that ample time for relaxation from his arduous duties was 
found. Washington ardently loved the chase. Mounted on his favorite 
horse, with horn and hound, along with his guests and neighbors, when in 
season, he would spend one or two days in each week in the fox chase. 
Duck shooting, in which he was celebrated for his skill, was also a favorite 
sport. In his canoes, in the early morning, he would repair to his duck 
blind, and would there spend hours in the delightful sport. These days of 
sport often ended with a hunting dinner in the mansion. There, around the 
festal board, with friends and neighbors. Washington is said to have enjoyed 
himself with unwonted hilarity. In this round of rural work, rural amuse- 
ments, and social intercourse, Washington spent many happy and tranquil 
years. His already wide reputation brought many visitors to Mount Vernon. 
These were always received with cordial hospitality. While his domestic con- 
cerns at this time were many and varied, yet he never permitted them to in- 
terfere with his public duties. Whether as Judge of the County Court. Rep- 
resentative of the county in the House of Burgesses, or Member of the Con- 
tinental Congress, he performed all his duties with scrupulous exactness. 

While a meml)er of the second Continental Congress, the storm of the 
Revolution, long pending, burst over the Colonies, and Washington was 
imanimously chosen by that body Commander-in-Chief of the Continental 
army. This he accepted, and on the 2ist day of June. 1775. set out for P>os- 
ton to enter uixin the discharge of this arduous diUy. John .\dams wrote 
at this time: "'TlK-re i^ something charming to me in the conduct of Wash- 
ington. .A gentlem.an i)\ unc of the first fortunes on the coiuiiieiii. leaving 



T-TO? 







■ 4?J 




^ s^g^^ec? 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and 
hazarding all in the cause of his country. His views are noble and disinter- 
ested." The honors with which Washington was received everywhere, while 
en route to Boston, only served to show him how much was expected of 
him, and when he looked around upon the raw and undisciplined "levies" he 
was to command, "A mixed multitude of people without order or govern- 
ment," scattered about in rough encampments, besieging a city garrisoned by 
an army of veteran troops, with ships of war lying in its harbor, he felt the 
awful responsibility of his situation, and the complicated and stupendous task 
before him, and wrote : "The cause of my country has called me to active 
and dangerous duty, but I trust that Divine Providence will enable me to dis- 
charge it with fidelity and success." With what unswerving and untiring 
fidelity, and with what complete and splendid ultimate success — despite dis- 
aster, mutiny, faithlessness, and treachery in those most trusted; privations 
without parallel, difficulties such as a leader never before encountered, bitter 
rivalries and the opposition of Congress — Washington, never faltering, dis- 
charged his trust during the long, weary years that followed, needs no repe- 
tition here. These are the best-known pages in the whole world's history. 

On an April day in 1789, a wearied messenger arrived in haste at the gates 
of Mount Vernon. He had come from the city of New York, partly in stage 
coaches and partly on horseback. This messenger was the venerable Charles 
Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, and one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. Under a commission from the first Con- 
gress under the new Federal Constitution, he had come to announce to Gen- 
eral Washington, in his Fairfax home, that he had been unanimously chosen 
President of the United States. The presence of the distinguished chief was 
urgently desired at the seat of government. He immedately set about making 
arrangements preparatory to his departure. In this connection history records 
this beautiful incident : 

After a hasty tour of inspection over his large estate to view the conditions 
on his various plantations, note their prospects for crops, and give all needed 
directions to his foremen, Washington's thoughts turned to his aged mother 
in her home in Fredericksburg, fifty miles away. In the hour of success he 
did not forget the mother who had ever been to him the kind and affectionate 
counsellor and abiding friend. Although it had been but a short time since 
he had looked upon her furrowed face and received her maternal blessing, 
he felt, under the circumstances, that he must now again behold her. She 
was old and infirm, and this might be the last opportunity he would have of 
seeing her among the living. So, when the lengthening shadows of the 
evening were fast disappearing, Washington mounted his fleetest horse, and 
accompanied by his faithful servant, started on his mission. Passing the 
borders of his own pleasant domain and entering upon the "Old King's High- 
way," the road over which fifty-odd years before, as a boy of four or five 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



Barn on the 
Gen. Dunn 
Farm. 





mm "; 



years, in company with father, mother, sister and brother, he had traveled 
from his lowly Westmoreland home to the home the father was then pro- 
jecting at Mount Vernon; and over which, thirty years before, as a young 
man of twenty-eight, he had ridden in his coach-and-four with his lovely 
bride. Through the chill and lonely hours of the night did our Washington, 
with the one great and controlling purpose in view, ride on and on to his 
destination. Sometimes through plantation clearing or straggling hamlet, 
and sometimes through stretches of woodland. On and on he pursues his 
solitary way. He leaves behind him the highlands of romantic Occoquan, 
and the roaring of its cascades' dies away in the distance. He, by ford and 
ferry, crosses the waters of the Neabsco, Quantico, Choppowamsic, Aquia, and 
Potomac Creeks, and enter the sandly lowlands of Stafford. As he sped fa^t 
through the watches of the night, with no token or sound of life to relieve 
the stillness, save here and there the glimmering light in the lonely farm 
house or negro cabin, or the liaying of watch-dog, or croaking of frog in the 
wayside fen,^how profound and varied must have been the thoughts that 
surged through the mind of the great man ! For thirty years he had been 
prominently connected with the history of tlie Colonies, had been for a num- 
ber of years a member of the Virginia Assembly, had been a member of the 
Continental Congress, was, according to English authority, the first man of 
tlie colonies to step forth as the public patron of sedition and revolt and 



F A I 



FAX 



COUNTY. 




The Gen. Lawton House, Falls Church. 

subscribe fifty pounds towards the commencement of hostilities, had been 
Commander-in-Chief of the victorious American armies in the Revokition, 
and was now to be the first President of the United States. 

Before the early dawn, Washington had finished his journey, and damp 
with the airs of night, was standing at the gate of the maternal home on the 
borders of the Rappahannock. The notable and touching interview between 
the honored chief and his aged mother, as given by Wa.'-hington's adopted 
son. George Washington Parke Custis. conies down to us as a striking ex- 
ample of filial love and obedience: 

"The President had come all unheralded and unannounced, .\fter the lirst 
moment of greeting, he said : 'Mother, the people of our Republic have been 
pleased with the most flattering unanimity to elect me their chief magistrate, 
but before I can assume the functions of the office. I have come hastily to bid 
you an affectionate farewell, and to ask your maternal blessing. So soon as 
the weight of public business, which must necessarily attend the lieginnings of 
a new government, can be (lisjinscd of. 1 shall hasten back to Virginia' — and 
here the aged mother interrupted him — Wnd then \iiu will nut see me. My 
great age and the disease which is fast hastening my dissolution warn me that 
I shall not remain long in this world; and I trust in God that 1 may be bi-tter 
prepared for anmher. P>ut go, George, and fulfill the destiny wliicli heaven 



A I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



appears to have intended for you. Go, my son, and may God's and a mother's 
blessing be with you to the end !" The President was deeply moved. His 
head rested fondly on the shoulder of his parent, whose aged arm, feebly 
but afifectionately, encircled his neck. Then the brow on which fame had 
wreathed the fairest laurels ever accorded to man, relaxed from its lofty 
bearing. That look which could have overawed a Roman Senate, was bent 
in filial tenderness upon the time-worn features of the faltering matron. He 
wept ! — a thousand recollections crowded upon his mind as memory, retracing 
scenes long past, carried him back to the lowly homestead of his youth in 
Westmoreland, where he beheld that mother whose care, education and dis- 
cipline had enabled him to reach to the topmost height of laudable ambition. 
Yet how were his glories forgotten in a moment, his exploits and victories, 
while he gazed upon her from whom he was so soon to part to meet no 
more." 

George Washington, whether as a private citizen, mingling with his neigh- 
bors and friends in a social or business way, is one of the very few men 
worthy of a place in history, who have successfully and triumphantly with- 
stood the test and scrutiny of the world's adverse criticism. He stands out 




The Old Falls Church. 

From photograph made in 1862. 



60 



F A I 



A X 



COUNTY. 



on the shifting scenes of the world's annals as a grandly imposing and unique 
personage, meriting and commanding as well, the veneration of every thought- 
ful observer, no matter of what country or nationality. Not only the citizens 
of the country which Washington loved and defended, but good citizens every- 
where, love to contemplate him as a personage divinely ordained and ap- 
pointed to open up the way for civil and religious liberty everywhere among 
the oppressed of every land. 

On December 14, 1799, there came to Mount Vernon, a bleak, forbidding- 
winter day. Washington was engaged in superintending some improvements 
on his estate which required his presence until late in the evening. On re- 
turning to the mansion he complained of a cold and sore throat, having been 
wet through during the day by mists and chilling rain. He passed the night 
with feverish excitement, and his ailment increased in intensity during the 
next day and until midnight, when, surrounded by the sorrowing household 
and the medical attendant, he passed gently and serenely from the scenes of 
earth to the realities of the great unknown. His faculties were strong and 
unimpaired to the last, and he was conscious from the beginning of his 
malady, that his end was near, and he waited for the issue with great com- 
posure and self-possession. "I am going," he observed to those about him, 
"But I have no fears." His mission had been well accomplished. His great 
life-work, whose influence will reach to the remotest periods of time, had 
been noblv finished. 




Washington's Tomb, 
Mount Vernon. 



"How sleep the brave who 

sink to rest 
With all their country's 

honors blest." 



61 



F A I R^ F A X COUNT Y. 




Gen. Pope's Headquarters at Centerville. 
George Mason. 

George ]\Iason, t'ifth in line from George ]\Iason wlin llcrl from the English 
reahn to the province of Virginia after the 'battle of Worcester, which sealed 
the fate of Charles I, was born in Fairfax^ Comity in 1725, seven years before 
Washington. He was one of the best and purest men of his time, and pos- 
sessed the confidence and esteem of those younger civilians — JcfYerson, Madi- 
son and Monroe — whose opinions he did much to niouh.l and sliapc along lines 
which led to American Independence. He was a neighbor of Wasliington and 
tlie Fairfaxes," and was on most intimate terms with them. While Washing- 
ton and Mason were in full accord as to l the necessity for resisting the en- 
croachments of the mother country upon the rights of the Colonies, yet they 
disagreed on many other questions of a political nature. . Washington was a 
Federalist of the Hamiltonian school, while ]\Iason warmly espoused the 
tenets of Jefferson and Henry, and took a leading part in advocacy of a truly 
Democratic form of government. 

In 1769 George Mason drafted the ".Vrticles of Association" against im- 
porting British goods, which the Burgesses signed in a body on the disso- 
lution of the Mouse by Lord P>otetout'; and in 1774 he drew up the celebrated 
Fairfax Coitnty Resolutions, setting out the attitude to be assumed by 
Virginia. 

In 1776 Mason was elected to represent his counl\- in the convention of 



63 



A I R 



A X 



COUNTY. 



that year, and prepared and had passed the celebrated "Virginia Bill of 
Rights." Thomas Jefferson, then in Philadelphia, had prepared "A Preamble 
and Sketch," to be offered in the Convention, but Mason's paper had been 
reported, and the final vote was about to be taken when Jefferson arrived. 
Mason's Bill was adopted, and Jefferson's Preamble was attached to the Vir- 
ginia Constitution. 

George Mason was afterwards a member of the General Assembly from 
Fairfax County, and warmly supported Jefferson in all his great reform 
legislative measures. His support of the laws cutting off "Entails," abolish- 
ing "Primogeniture" and the "Church Establishments," when by birth and 
education he belonged to the dominant class and the Church of England, 
showed clearly the disinterested public spirit of the man. Mason also advo- 
cated, in 1778, the bill forbidding the further importation of African slaves. 
In the Virginia Convention he said, on the subject of slavery: "Slavery dis- 
courages arts and manufactures. The poor despise labor when it is per- 
formed by slaves. They prevent the migration of whites who really enrich 
and strengthen a country. They produce the most pernicious effect upon 
manners. Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the 
judgment of heaven on a country. As nations can not be rewarded nor pun- 
ished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of 
causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins by national calamities. 
I regret that some of our Eastern brethren have, from a love of gain, em- 




Old Tavern and War-Time Hospital at Centerville. 



64 



A I R F A X COUNT Y. 



barked in this nefarious traffic. I hold it essential in every point of view that 
the general government should have the power tm prevent the increase of 
slavery." / ' 

]Mason. like Washington, was neither a bigot, zealot, nor sectarian in re- 
ligion. His creed appeared in his life, rather than in his professions. Some 
idea of his views on religious toleration may be gotten from the last article 
of his celebrated L'ill of Rights : "Religion, or the duty we owe to our 
Creator and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and 
conviction — not by force nor violence ; and therefore all men are equally 
entitled to the exercise of religion according to the dictates of conscience, 
and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love 
and charity towards each other." 

George !Mason. with all his force of intellect; with his correct judgment 
of the purposes and actions of men, and with his eminent fitness for any 
position of public trust and confidence, was remarkably modest and unas- 
suming. He was domestic in his attachments and inclinations, and cared more 
for the enjoyments of his home life than the envied circumstances, often 
vexatious and forbidding, which surround the politician and the legislator. 
By his own fireside, in the midst of his family circle, in his own manorial " 
halls, was the place of all others most dear to him. He was elected to the 
United States Senate from Virginia, but declined to serve on account of 
pressing home duties. But, withal, he was no recluse. He went often out 
from his fireside and circle, and mingled freely with his friends and neigh- 
bors at church, at elections, at barbecues, and other social occasions, and he 
loved to have them come and share, under the roof of "Gunston Hall," his 
large and cordial hospitality. His library, for the time in which he lived, 
was a varied and extensive one, and in it he found perpetual delight. He was 
not^ a learned man, according to the common acceptation of the term, but 
his knowledge of the world, in so far as he had prosecuted his investigations 
as a student, was very correct and practical. He was not an orator, and 
never indulged in lofty flights of language to carry conviction, but he was 
endowed with a large store of common sense, which he put forcibly into 
all the phrases of his public addresses and documents. He had a deep .and 
abiding interest in the affairs of his country and county, and co-operated most 
earnestly in everything which would be likely to promote their progress and 
welfare. (He was one of the founders of the towns of Alexandria and Col- 
chester, the first stones of which he saw laid in the primitive wilderness. 

The letters of George Mason to his children were replete with good advice 
and parental solicitude. One sentence will serve as a sample of them all. To 
his son John, a merchant in Bordeaux, France, to whom he consigned large 
cargoes of his plantation products, he wrote : "Diligence, frugality and in- 
tegrity will infallibly insure yi)ur business, and _\our fortune; and it \<iu 
content vourself with mi)der:ite things .at iirsl. you will rise. ])erhaps by slow 



65 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



degrees, but upon a solid foundation." In lus last will and testament Mason 
charged his sons : "I recommend to you, from my own experience in life, to 
prefer the happiness of independence and a private station, to the struggles 
and vexations of public business; but if either your own inclinations, or the 
necessities of the times, should engage you in public affairs, I charge you, on a 
father's blessing, never to let the motives of private interest, nor ambition, 
induce you to betray, nor terrors of poverty or disgrace, nor fear of danger 
or of death, deter you from asserting the liberty of your country; and always 
endeavor to transmit to your posterity those sacred rights to which you 
were born." 

George Mason is said to have been rather above medium height, with a 
full form and courtly figure. He is represented in the group surrounding the 
Washington statue in the Capitol Square in Richmond, and his portrait hangs 
in the courthouse of Fairfax County. He left five sons and four daughters. 
His fourth son, John Mason, was the father of James Murray Mason, who 
was United States Senator from Virginia from 1847 to 1861. During the 
Civil War he was made Confederate Commissioner to England, and his arrest, 
with Mr. Slidell, on the British steamer Trent, by the Federal authorities, 
came very near bringing about a war between this country and Great Britain. 
The eldest daughter of Senator Mason married General Samuel Cooper, who 
was Adjutant-General of the Gonf^e^lerate-Stat-es- Army ; and another datighter 
married Sidney Smith Lee, a brother of General Robert E. Lee. This daugh- 
ter was the -mother of General Fitzhugh Lee. 



Fairfax 

County 

Jail. 




66 



George Alason died in 1792, seven years before Washington, and was 
buried in the family burying ground on the Gunston plantation. A simple 
shaft marks his last resting place, and bears this inscription : "George Mason, 
author of the Virginia Bill of Rights and the first Constitution of Virginia— 
1725-1792." 

General Daniel Morgan. 

It is not generally known that the "hero of five wars," the "wagon boy of 
the Occoquan," General Daniel Morgan, spent a good part of his youth in 
Fairfax County. When Dinwiddie, Braddock, and Commodore Keppel,"with 
their gaudy retinues, passed through the town of Colchester, this hero, not 
yet twenty years of age. was filling the humble roll of teamster in the employ 
of John Ballantine, hauling iron ore to his furnace for a shilling a day. His 
adventurous spirit caught the military enthusiasm of the times. He left ore 
and furnace and turned his horses' heads up the "King's Highway," in the 
direction of Alexandria, where all was activity and busy preparation for the 
disastrous expedition over the mountains. Henceforth, for many years, his 
hitherto prosaic life was to be one of strange adventures, more like the mar- 
vels of romance than the actual realities of history. In the inevitable course 
of his destiny, he was to be a most conspicuous actor and directing spirit in 
the momentous events and circumstances which called into being and shaped 
the grand conditions of our American republic. 

But space will not permit further notice here in detail of the varying for- 
tunes of the gallant Morgan. The story of his meteor-like course through the 
stirring events of the Colonial days fills many of the brightest pages of our 
national history. His career from the day he threw off his last load of iron 
ore at the Colchester iron furnace on the banks of the Occoquan, in Fairfax 
County, to the time when, forty years after a Major-General, with a military 
renown world-wide, he sat, a worthy and dignified representative from the 
State of Virginia in the Congress of the Republic, he had been so eminently 
instrumental in establishing, is one which, to his posterity, has more of the 
glamor of marvelous romance than the: certainty of histoi^ic fact.) The waters 
of the Occoquan still hurry on in their journey to the sea as they did when 
Braddock and Dinwiddie and Keppel crossed that April morning more than 
a hundred and fifty years ago. As then, the birds still carol their spring- 
time and summer lays ; as then, the skies still bend lovingly, and boughs and 
fields are green with nature's life, but Colchester, with its busy streets, its 
warehouses, its landing, and coming and going ships, has disappeared, save 
^ only here and there a lonely house, standing ghost-like in the solitude. These, 
with the remnants of the "old furnace and forge" of Ballintine, and the 
grass-grown heaps of ore and slag, and the almost obliterated wagon roads 
of the olden time, are all eloquent and impressive reminders of our gallant 
Morgan. 



67 



A I R F A X COUNTY. 



General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee. 

General W. H. F. Lee, known in war times as "Rooney" Lee, was born at 
Arlington, ]\lay 31, 1837. \Miile completing his education at Harvard, on 
the special request of General Winfield Scott, he was appointed a lieutenant 
in the regular army, and inaugurated his military career by taking a detach- 
ment of troops by sea and land to San Antonio, Texas. In 1858, under the 
command of the brilliant Albert Sidney Johnston, he served in the Utaii 
Expedition against the oNIormons. Soon after this he resigned his commis- 
sion in the army, returned to his native State, was married, and settled down 
as a farmer on his large estate on the Pamunkey River. This was the 
"White House," the beautiful home in which, years before, Washington had 
wooed and won the charming widow Custis, and which had been left General 
Lee by his maternal grandfather, G. W. Parke Custis. 

When tlie conflict of 1861 broke upon our fair land, and Virginia called 
upon her sons to defend her soil, sharing the faith of his distinguished 
father. General Lee quickly raised a company of cavalry, and joined the 
Army of Northern Virginia, in which he served in every grade from captain 
to major-general. 

.\s colonel, he led his regiment in the famous raid around ]McClellan's 
army, and was an active participant in all those brilliant acliievements which 
made notable the proficiency of the Confederate cavalry. Being severely 
wounded in the great cavalry fight at Brandy Station in 1863, and while re- 
covering from his wounds at the home of General Wickham, in Hanover 
County, General Lee was taken prisoner, and for a part of the time wdiile 
thus held, was under sentence of death, as hostage for a Federal officer held 
itnder like sentence in Libby Prison. 

Being exchanged in 1864, he returned to his home ; and while he found 
his young wife and children dead, his beautiful home Inirned to the ground, 
and his whole estate laid waste by the ruthless hand of war, yet his first 
act w^as to visit Libby Prison to shake the hand and congratulate the Federal 
officer for whom he had been held as hostage. Iimiediately joining his com- 
mand, General Lee led his division in every engagement from the Rapidan to 
Appomattox where, with his father, the greatest soldier of modern times, he 
surrendered to the inevitable. 

A few years after the Civil War he removed to Fairfa.x County. He 
served in the State Senate and was thrice elected to the Congress of the 
United States. General Lee, almost in the prime of life, died October 15, 
1891, and was buried at his beautiful home, "Ravensworth," where the 
stately oaks — 

"Still a ceaseless vigil holy 
Keep above his dust." 



68 



General W. W. Mackall. 

General W. W. Mackall, the distinguished soldier and citizen, was a resi- 
dent of Fairfax County for a number of years. He was a graduate of West 
Point, and with a commission as Captain, served with distinction in the regu- 
lar army from 1S37 to the outbreak of the Civil War, when he resigned his 
commission and cast his fortunes with the Confederate cause. In quick suc- 
cession, by brave and meritorious conduct, he rose through all the grades to 
that of Brigadier-General. General Mackall was held in high esteem l)y all 
the leading military men of the Southern Confederacy. Few men made 
greater sacrifices or served the Lost Cause more valiantly and faithfully than 
General Mackall. Returning to his beautiful home near Langley to reside 
after the Civil War, he soon won for himself the love and esteem of a large 
circle of friends and admirers. He died August \2. 1891, and was buried at 
Lewinsville. 

General Fitzhugh Lee. 

It seems appropriate to ]iause here to make some reference to General 
Fitzhugh Lee, one of the later distinguished men of Fairfax. He was born 
at "Claermont," in Fairfax County, November 9, 1835. Ht? was the son, as 
stated in a previous sketch, of Commodore Sidney Smith Lee, and grandson 
of "Light Horse" Harry Lee, of Revolutionary fame. He entered the West 
Point Military Academy at the age of sixteen, and graduated in July, 1856. 
His career from that time until his death was a distinguished and active one. 
His first military service was as Second Lieutenant in the famous old Second 
Cavalry, which furnished so many officers who became distinguished in the 
Civil War. He had many thrilling experiences on the plains in our country's 
wars with the Indians. Resigning his commission in the Lhiited States Army 
at the outbreak of the Civil War, he joined his fortunes with those of his 
State and the South, serving until after the first battle of Manassas on 
General Ewell's staff; then as Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Virginia Cav- 
alry; and then in turn as Colonel, Brigadier-General, and Major-General. 
After Generrd Wade Hampton was sent to join General Joseph E. Johnston's 
army m the South, Fitz Lee commanded all the cavalry of the Army of Xnrth- 
ern Virginia until the surrender at Appomattox. His career was a particularly 
brilliant one, and he became one of the recognized heroes of the Civil War. 

In 1881, while living in Fairfax County, General Lee was elected Governor 
of Virginia, and after a brilliant administration of four years (the Consti- 
tutional limit), he again retired to private life. Some years later he was 
appomted by President Cleveland Collector of Customs at Lynchburg, Va., 
ana m the spring of 1896 was made Consul General at Havana, Cuba, lie so 
niscnarged the duties of that trying position in those perilous times as to win 
the admiration and approval of the whole country, irresjieclive of p;irty. 



69 



When President McKinley succeeded Mr. Cleveland, he refused to accept 
General Lee's resignation, and, after the outbreak of the war with Spain, ap- 
pointed him Major-General of Volunteers, and gave him command of the 
Seventh Army Corps. He was honorably discharged April 12, 1899, and bre- 
veted Brigadier-General of the regular army, and in February, 1900, he was 
appointed in the permanent establishment, commanding the Department of 
the Missouri. On March 2, 1901, he was placed on the retired list. He died 
April 28, 1905, and was buried in beautiful "Hollywood," at Richmond, Va. 




(§[h i^inntBttiXhB 



"Are they not hallowed to us, 
By mother's songs of long gone years, 
And baby's joys and childish fears. 
And youthful hopes and joyful tears?" 

It is to be sincerely regretted that some one had not a century ago col- 
lected and recorded all the facts connected with the Colonial homesteads of 
Fairfax County. There were many persons then living in the respective 
neighborhoods, who could have given quite accurate and full accounts of the 
employments, social diversions and enjoyments which filled up the measure 
of the lives of those who first built and occupied these homes. Everything 
now is but the "Scattered remnant of a vague tradition." 

The prominent homesteads associated with the Colonial history of Fair- 
fax County were nearly all built in the decade between 1730 and 1740. These 
were Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, Woodlawn, Belvoir, Lexington, Newing- 
ton, Hollin Hall, Towlston Hall, Mount Eagle, Cedar Grove, Vaucluse, Cler- 
mont, Abbingdon, and Clifton. For the most part these buildings were 
constructed of brick and stone, with thick walls and great outside chimneys. 
The style of architecture in all of them was much the same. The rooms were 
large and rambling, the ceilings high, and wainscoted walls of oak or walnut 
finish, were commion. The roofs were steep, and the roomy attics which they 
enclosed, were lighted by dormer windows. A spacious veranda was a promi- 
nent feature of each. Belvoir, Hollin Hall, Towlston Hall, Vaucluse, Cler- 
mont, Lexington, Newingtnn, the old parsonage of Truro parish, and others, 
are no more. Mount Vermel, Gunston Hall and Woodlawn are the promi- 
nent old homesteads left to serve as links in the chain that binds the past to 
the present. These are well preserved, and are objects of great interest to 
the intelligent and thoughtful visitor. 

Mount Vernon. 

Mount Vernon is the most noted homestead on the Western Continent. 
Thousands of visitors annually come here to view the home and tomb of the 
first President of the I'nited States. No home in the wide world has a more 
beautiful situatimi. The peaceful and quiet landscape surrounding it fills 
the mind of tlic visitor with inexpressible delight. 



71 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



o 

M 
CO 

0) 
c+ 

o 

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o 






o 



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cr 

cr 

o 

.V 



In 1850 the Legislature of V'irginia granted a charter of incorporation to 
the "Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union," and in the same year 
this Association purchased from John Augustine Washington, for $200,000, 
the AL^unt Vernon mansion and 200 acres of land adjoining. The ohject of 
the purchase being tlie complete restoration of the "mansion and grounds," 
this work was immediately begun, and has since been prosecuted with great 
vigor and success. Every part of the grounds and the whole interior of the 
Mansion have received such careful and intelligent attention that the pa- 
triotic as well as the curious visitor, is filled with delight at what he sees. 
The numerous rooms of the ^Mansion, known as the River Room, the West 
Parlor, the Music Room, the Banquet Hall, JMrs. Washington's Room, Nellie 
Custis' Room, Washington's Room, and Lafayette's Room, are each taste- 
fully furnished in antique style and fashion. After the death of Washington 
his articles of furniture became widely scattered, but by purchase and dona- 
tion, from time to time, they have been restored to their original places in 
the Mansion. All the furniture of the Library at the present time is the 
original. 

Let every American, especially every young American, visit this sacred 
spot. It will make an impression for good which will go with him through 
life. It will teach him the story and lesson of the past, as no printed page 
can. It will enlarge his patriotism, elevate his notions of public service, and 
will call out some sense of veneration and loyalty towards the institutions of 
his country, and the memory of her mighty dead; so that young America 
may bring back to our land those civic elements that dignified the first eight 
years of our constitutional life. 

Gunston Hall. 

Xext to ]\Iount Vernon. "Gunston Hall" is prob;ibly the mo^t celebrated 
Colonial residence in Fairfax County. It was the home of George Mason, 
author of the Virginia 15i!l of Rights, the Fairfax County Resolutions, and 
several amendments to the Federal Constitution. Gunston Mall is in a fine 
state of preservation. Not only its exterior of quaint roofs, gables, ilormer 
windows and tall chimneys, but its interior of spacious apartments with their 
high ceilings, wainscotings and elaborate stairways, have all been well cared 
for. The most notable feature of this old mansion is its beautiful and elabo- 
rate interior finish. This was all hand-carved by special workmen l)ri)ught 
over from England by Mr. Mason. The interior tinish of the White l';irlor 
is a wonder. The doors, windows, and recesses on either side of the s(|uare 
open fireplace, are all incased in broad, fluted, square pilasters with frontals 
after the chase Doric designs. The heavy panelled doors of this room are all 
finished with classic scrolls. So beautiful is this work that it is often repro- 
duced in costly modern mansions. A Northern architect, visiting Gunston 



73 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

recently, offered $3,000 for the wood work of this room. He wished to trans- 
fer it to a Colonial mansion he was erecting near Boston. 

As one passes through this stately mansion, thought irresistibly travels 
back to the noted guests of former times. Washington, Lafayette, Jefferson, 
Adams, Aladison, Monroe, Randolph, Henry, and others, were all guests, at 
one time or another, of the distinguished owner. They sought and enjoyed, 
not only the large and cordial hospitality here dispensed, btit the valued opin- 
ion and wise council of the great thinker, on the momentous questions then 
perplexing the minds of those entrusted with public affairs. No home in 
the thirteen original Colonies did more to foster and promote those principles 
of human freedom that finally triumphed in Colonial independence. Built in 
1758, for thirty-four years while its owner lived, it was the source of inspira- 
tion and support to the great leaders who prominently figured in the Revo- 
lutionary period. May it withstand the ravages of time until the life-work 
of its builder shall be better understood and appreciated! 

Woodlawn. 

Woodlawn, the stately home of the beautiful Nellie Custis, the adopted 
daughter of General Washington, is three miles west of Mount Vernon. Of 
all the old homesteads of Fairfax, this is the most pretentious. It was built 
on a tract of land, two thousand acres in extent, willed by Washington to 
his adopted daughter, after her marriage to his favorite nephew, Major Law- 
rence Lewis, of Culpeper County. It was named for Major Lewis' childhood 
home, and is a substantial brick structure, sixty by forty feet, with wide halls, 
spacious apartments, and ample wings, united by corridors. Here in the 
early part of the last century, for nearly forty years, a generous hospitality 
was dispensed. The beautiful lady of the house was no stranger to the dis- 
tinguished people of this and other lands. At Mount Vernon and in the 
Capital of the Nation, she had met and formed the acquaintance of scores 
of these. General Lafayette, on his second visit, in 1SJ4, to the land he 
loved and had helped so valiantly to make independent, came here to renew 
his fondly cherished acquaintance with the stately housewife whom, nearly 
fifty years before, he had met as a child in the home of his old commander. 
At all times and with all conditions of life, she was the same courteous, in- 
telligent and agreeable lady, winning and retaining the love and esteem of 
all who knew her. Major Lawrence Lewis died November _'o, 1839, and on 
a bright summer day in July, 1852, Nelly Custis, his wife, full of years and 
honors, followed him to the l)urial vault at Mount Verndu. lij the beautiful 
parlor of the Mount Vernon mansion where, more tlian lifty years before, 
crowned with bridal wreathes "The fairest lady of the land," she had been 
given in marriage by her distinguished foster-father, and liad received the 
congratulations of distinguished guests from every (|uarter, siie lay in state 
to receive the last trilnites of respect from sorrowing friends in the nearby 



A I 



FAX 



COUNTY 




"Solona." resi- 
dence of Mrs. 
W. S. Smoot, 
which shelter- 
ed "Dollie" 
Madisc^n when 
the British cap 
tured Wash- 
ington. 



cities, and the surrounding neighborhood. Down in the family burial place, 
close by the waters of the river she loved so well, and on whose pleasant 
banks she had spent so many happy days in childhood and youth, near the 
last resting place of her kind and loving guardians, the widely loved mistress 
of the Woodlawn of years ago, sleeps her last sleep. A marble monument 
marks her last resting place, and on it we read : "Sacred to the memory of 
Eleanor Park Custis, granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, and adopted daugh- 
ter of General Washington. Reared under the roof of the Father of His 
Country, this lady was not more remarkable for the beauty of her person 
than for the superiority of her mind. She lived to be admired, and died to 
be regretted, July 15, 1852, in the seventy-fourth year nf her age." 

Solona. 

Six miles from Washington, near the village of Langley, stantls the old 
"Parson Maffit" homestead, built in 1801. It was this old mansion which, in 
1814, sheltered Dolly Madison, wife of President Madison, in her flight from 
Washington. On the approach of the British to the Capital, Mrs. Madison, 
cutting Stuart's famous portrait of Washington in such haste from the frame 
as to leave the signature of the artist to the remnant, and taking the original 
copy of the Declaration of Independence, and other important state papers 
with her. in company with a servant, fled across the Potomac into Iviirfax 
Countv. After being refused lodging at a number of places, linally the doors 



AIRFAX COUNTY. 



of Solona were thrown open to her, and she was made a welcome guest. 
Here later she was joined by the President and a number of his Cabinet, 
where, late in the evening on August 24, 1814, they witnessed, from a nearby 
hill, the burning of Washington by the British. This is now the home of the 
Smoot family. 

Other Old Homes. 

There are many notable private residences in the immediate vicinity of the 
Seminary, all of them connected with the tragic history of the Civil War. 
"Malvern," the old home of Bishop Johns, and now the property of Mr. Ed- 
ward C. Dangertield, was General Phil Kearny's headquarters during that 
time. "Menokin," the home of the Cassius LeesJ and still in the possession 
of that family, was the headquarters of General McTTowell, whose horses 
were stabled in its spacious parlors. "Meeckross," the home of Col. Arthur 
Herbert, was rebuilt after the war, its cellars being a Federal magazine which 
Col. Herbert found fourteen feet deep and cement-lined, on his return after 
the war. The noble view of the broad Potomac and the intervening hills, 
seen through the trees which Mrs. Herbert planted after the war with her 
own fair hands in place of those cut down by the Federal troops, lend a 
unique loveliness to the place, and rabbit and robbin are now in possession 
of the yawning trenches and forts made by a hostile soldiery, and honey- 
suckle and wild rose riot over the crumbling breastworks. Adjoining Col. 
Herbert's property is "Vauxcluse," one of the old Fairfax estates, now occu- 
pied by the noteworthy artist, Prof. E. F. Andrews, and his family. The 
old hospitable mansion of the Fairfaxes was torn down by the Federal troops, 
and not one stone was left upon another. Until four years ago, when Prof. 
Andrews bought the land and built, the property had been abandoned since 
the Civil War. It is a wild and picturesque spot, and the famous old spring, 
around which cluster so many romantic stories, is at the foot of a beautiful 
rustic stairway, a creation of the artistic mind of the present gifted Mistress 
of the Manor. 

Near Annandale is "Ravenworth," the stately home of Mrs. "Rooney" 
Lee. This old mansion, surrounded by primitive forest, is one of the most 
attractive in Fairfax. To this beautiful home which became his by inherit- 
ance, after the close of the Civil War, in which he had bo:ne a conspicuous 
part, came General W. H. F. ("Rooney") Lee, the second son of the great 
Confederate chieftain. Here "Rooney" Lee, with the love and esteem of all 
wdio knew him, lived and died, and in the family burying ground nearby, 
under the trees he loved so well, sleeps his last sleep. In addition to the 
stately owner and her distinguished son, spending the evening of his life in 
a well-earned rest, here resides General Custis Lee, another son of the great 
General Robert E. Lee. He, too, is loved and honored by all who know him, 
and may his days be many in the beautiful home in which he now sojourns. 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 



The writer of these sketches would be delighted to take up in detail and 
tell something about all the old homesteads of Fairfax County, whether they 
have escaped the ravages of time or not, but a lack of space forbids. Old 
Belvoir, the home of George William Fairfax ; Mount Eagle, the home of 
Bryan Fairfax; Abingdon, where the beautiful Nellie Custis was born; 
Wellington, the home of Washington's private secretary, and many others, 
have clustering around them stories of thrilling interest. The noble men and 
women who, in the years agone, daily crossed their thresholds, were the 
pioneers in our civilization. They laid broad and deep the foundations of our 
political and social fabric, and delightful task it is to record the labors and 
diversions that occupied their time and made up the measure of their lives. 

"O'er lapse of time and change of scene, 
And weary waste, which lies between. 
In loving way our hearts we lean. 
And keep their memories ever green." 



79 



Wih ail?wrrl)?0, i£tr. 



Pohick Church. 

The Parish church of Mount Vernon was the first buiU in 1732, one mile 
south of Pohick Run, from which it derives its name, This building was of 
wood and lasted about forty years, when a new site was selected one mile 
north of Pohick Run. The present building is of brick, which were burned 
in the nearby open. It had among its first vestrymen and building committee 
such men as George Washington, George Mason, George William Fairfax, 
Alexander Henderson, Daniel McCarty, William Triplett, Martin Cockburn, 
William Payne, and Thomas Withers Coffer. This church has passed through 
three wars. The Revolution did it no damage, the war of 1812 brought a 




Interior of 

Pohick 

Church. 



81 



FAIRFAX 



COUNTY. 



visit of British troops who took away an ornament in the shape of a gilded 
door which covered the top of the sounding board over the pulpit. The 
Civil War did it much damage, as it was used as a stable. In 1872 $1,250 was 
raised, and the church was put in condition to be used. Within a few years 
past the ladies of Mount Vernon and the national societies, especially the 
Mount Vernon Chapter of the D. A. R., have raised money enough to re- 
store Pohick Church to its former beauty, and in a few years the restoration 
will be complete, when the church will be an exact copy of the church in 
which many of the Revolutionary Fathers worshipped. It is a hallowed spot, 
and a precious link binding the present generation to the past. 

Falls Church. 

Falls Church, so-called after the nearest falls of the Potomac, was built 
in 1734, enlarged in 1750, and rebuilt, as now, in 1767. With its yard, con- 
taining magnificent old trees and ancient graves, consecrated by burial rites 
and tears and the tread of worshipping feet for over a century and a half, 
it stands as a venerable and inspiring memorial of the far-back Colonial days. 
Like Pohick, it has carried on its vestry rolls the names of distinguished 
Fairfax people : Augustine Washington, George Washington, George Mason, 
George William Fairfax, and others, we find there recorded. In its yard a 




Falls Church. 



82 



FAIR 



A X 



O U N 



Y. 



portion of Braddock's army encamped, and since, within its portals, have sat 
the soldiers of five wars. Recently large sums have been expended in the 
restoration of this church, and it is hoped that ere long it will be fully 
restored to its former condition. 

Old Highways. 

Long before the prow of the frail bark that bore Captain John Smith and 
his companions to the Great Falls of the Potomac had ever touched the Fair- 
fax shore, an Indian trail two hundred and thirty miles long, extending from 
the tidewaters of the Chesapeake to the valleys beyond the mountains, was 
plainly visible. Starting in the vicinity of Williamsburg, and passing through 
the counties of New Kent, King William, Caroline, Spottsylvania, Stafford, 
and Prince William, it crossed the Qccoquan at Colchester into Fairfax. 
From Colchester it passed by the way of Accotink, Washington's Old Mill, 
over the fords of Little and Great Hunting Creeks into Alexandria. From 
Alexandria by two ways, varying from one to twelve miles apart, it passed 
on its course to the mountains. One of these ways passed through Fairfax 
County by Falls Church and Dranesville, and through Loudoun County by 




•^^1& 



The Old Star Tavern, Falls Church 



S3, 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

Leesburg and Clark's Gap in the Cotocton Mountains, and by Hillsboro to 
Key's Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was over this branch that 
General Sir Peter Halket's historic Forty-fourth Regiment of British regu- 
lars, a part of General Braddock's army, marched, in April, 1755, on the 
disastrous expedition against the French and Indians. The other way, fol- 
lowing for the most part the present Little River" turnpike, passed from 
Alexandria through Fairfax, one mile southwest of Fairfax Courthouse, 
and on through Loudoun by Aldie, near the Bull Run Mountains, to Snicker's 
Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains. A considerable extent of this branch is 
also known as Braddock's road, from the fact that a part of Braddock's 
wagon train passed over it. It was over this road that Washington and 
George William Fairfax journeyed to the Shenandoah Valley to survey the 
lands of Lord Fairfax. In 1753, at the age of twenty-one, as a messenger 
from Governor Dinwiddie to the French commander, with a Colonel's com- 
mission, Washington again traversed it, and passed over it again in 1754 on 
his way to the battle of the Great Meadows. These ways, and the main high- 
way from Colchester to Alexandria, together with the present Guinea road. 
Ox road and many others, in the olden time were all known as "Rolling 
Roads." This designation arose' from the practice of transporting the to- 
bacco to the various shipping points in the hogsheads in which it was packed. 
A wooden pin was driven into each head, to which were adjusted a pair of 
rude shafts, and thus in the way of a garden roller, it was drawn to its desti- 
nation. The Guinea road was known as the "Rolling Road to Colchester 
Warehouses." Even the great thoroughfare from Alexandria to Williams- 
burg was known as a "Rolling Road." This was the most famous of all the 
roads of the thirteen original Colonies. When the first settlers set out to 
enlarge their domain, it was over this they came. They cleared and widened 
it, made its rough places smooth and its crooked places straight. The 
streams, then of far greater volume than now, were either bridged or ferried, 
and as the tide of immigration swelled, the ancient Indian trail became not 
only "a way," but a "Highway" for the nations. Leading from the "Upper 
Potomac Regions'' to the Vice-Regal Court at Williamsburg, it became early 
known as the "King's Highway." Nowhere is a road so intimately con- 
nected with the stirring and interesting events that served as fitting preludes 
to the birth of a great nation. Over it, as a small boy of four or five years, 
in company with father and mother, brother and sister, Washington was 
brought from the old home in Westmoreland to the new home on the Epse- 
wasson. Over it, as a man of twenty-eight, twenty- four years later, in his 
coach-and-four, seated by the side of his newly-made bride, Washington rode 
from her home on the Pamunkey to his home on the Potomac. Over a part 
of it rode Governor Spottswood and his "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe" 
in their search for the "Pass"' to the valleys beyond the mountains. Over it 



84 



rode Governor Dinwiddic when c\\ route to Alexandria to meet General 
Braddock and Commodore Keppel. Over it rode the first President of the 
United States in his last visit to his aged mother in her home in Fredericks- 
burg. Virginia's contingent of provincials, when en route to join Admiral 
Vernon fighting the Spaniards at Carthagena, passed over it. This old road 
saw the passing of the Virginia troops to join Braddock in his expedition to 
the banks of the Ohio. Washington, in his march to the victorious field of 
Yorktown, passed over it. Virginia's representatives in her General As- 
sembly passed over it. In short, it was truly the great highway, the great 
stage road, for many years of old Virginia. 

Washington's Old Mill. 

Two miles from Mount Vernon, by the Old King's Highway, on the creek 
called by the Indians Epsewasson, stood Washington's Old Mill. This mill, 
together with a small dwelling, was built by Captain Augustine Washington, 
the father of George Washington, in I734,''and became the property of General 
Washington on the death of his half-brother, Lawrence, in July, 1752. From 
tradition we learn that the mill in its day was supplied with the best ma- 
chinery then obtainable, and so excellent was the flour manufactured, that it 
was received, without inspection, in the foreign ports to which it was 
shipped. 

While the "Dusty miller taking his tolls," and the "Cumbrous ox-wains with 
their ebony drivers," are no longer seen ; and the "Grating sound of the 
grinding gear" of the old mill is no longer heard, yet the holy associations 
lingering around this sacred spot consecrate it, and make it a shrine to which 
patriotic hearts delight to turn. 

Washington's Tomb. 

At the foot of a beautiful slope, a few hundred yards south from the 
mansion, is the substantial vault in which repose the remains of the Immortal 
Washington. The vault is constructed of brick, and when the heavy iron 
doors are open, through the picketed iron gate, can be seen two marble sar- 
cophagi, the one on the right containing the remains of the General, and the 
one on the left those of Martha, his wife. Over the vault door, in a heavy 
panel of stone, are the words of Holy Writ : "I am the resurrection and the 
life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Over 
the arch of the tomb is a white marble tablet on which is inscribed : "Within 
this enclosure rest the remains of General George Washington." Each of 
these tombs, or coffins, was cut from a solid block of Pennsylvania marble, 
and are perfectly plain, except on Wasliington's is cut in relief the .\nicrican 



85 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

Shield over the flag of the United States. These remains were placed in 
these marble coffins and sealed from sight October V, 1837, since which they 
have never been disturbed. 

Clifton Ferry. 

An Act of the General Assembly of 1745 provided for the establishment of 
a public ferry from Clifton Neck on the original Mount Vernon estate, to the 
Maryland shore. Large and capacious boats, rowed by stalwart negro oars- 
men, carried vehicles of every kind, as well as pedestrians, across the Po- 
tomac. By this ferry went all the travel between lower Virginia and Georgia 
to New York. The rates "for a man or horse were one shilling; for every 
coach, chariot or wagon and driver thereof, six shillings ; for every cart or 
four-wheeled chaise and driver thereof, four shillings, and for every two- 
wheeled chaise or chariot, two shillings." 

Not far from this ferry is the celebrated spring called by the Indians of 
old the "Great Fountain." Perhaps the first white man who ever drank 
from this spring was Captain John Smith while on his voyage of exploration 
to the Great Falls of the Potomac; and when he speaks in his Journal of the 
"Sweet waters in which this region abounds," who knows but that he had 
reference to the "Great Fountain." Though three hundred years have rolled 
their round, these refreshing waters still gush forth from Clifton Ferry Hill 
as they did in the far-off days of yore. 

The Fairfax County Medical Society. 

While the liealth of the people of Fairfax County is well nigh proverbial, 
yet the followers of Hippocrates here, as everywhere, find profitable employ- 
ment ; and for their mutual improvement, the medical fraternity has the 
oldest continuous medical society in Virginia. It was organized in May, 
1884, and has since continued to exist and increase in numbers and useful- 
ness. Its Constitution and By-laws are liberal, and as a result, it has mem-' 
bers from Alexandria City, Loudoun and Prince William Counties, and the 
District of Columbia. The Society has been of great advantage to the pro- 
fession in bringing together the doctors from different sections, thus pro- 
moting friendship and broadening the professional spirit among its members. 
At its meetings papers on important professional subjects are read and dis- 
cussed, and liy this means the members are assisted in keeping abreast with 
modern progress in medicine and surgery. Thoughtful observers agree that 
in capacity, the members of the Fairfax County Medical Society measure well 
up with those of other like bodies anywhere found. 



86 



FAIRFAX COUNTY. 

Conclusion. 

To him who loves to visit places made sacred by some historical associa- 
tion ; who delights, with reverential hand, to pluck the bud or flower from 
the waysides traversed by the feet of generations long since dust; who, in 
the lull of labor, loves to visit the old homesteads around which still lurks 
the inspiration for historic reverie or enduring fiction; who wishes to see the 
old churches in which our forefathers worshipped, and kneel at the altars at 
which they knelt; who wishes to traverse the roads over which the soldiers 
of six wars have passed; in short, who wishes to live in a land made famous 
by the lives and labors of noble men and women, let him come to these 
sacred precincts. 



* 



87 



Washington, Arlington and Falls Church Ry. 

Only line to Fort Myer, Va., and short 

line to Ballston, Falls Church, Dunn- 

Loring, Vienna, Fairfax Court House, Va. 

Fairfax Court House has many Colonial and 

Revolutionary war memories. Here is where 

General Washington's will is recorded. 

Also short line to 
Arlington National Cemetery 

The Bivouac of the Nation's dead, on the beautiful Potomac 

New Highway Bridge Route 

Take Washington, Arlington and Falls 
Church railway cars at 12th street and 
Pennsylvania Avenue for above points, 
enroute viewing the Post Office De- 
partment Building, the Mall, Washing- 
ton Monument, 5mithsonion, the Bu- 
reau of Lngraving and Printing Build- 
ings, the Speedway, Bureau of Agri- 
culture's Experimental Farm, and the 
Arlington National Cemetery with a 
view of the City of Washington 

TRAIN5 LVLRY HALF HOUR 

F. B. HuBBELL, T. Garrett, 

Vice Pres't and Manatjer. Pass. Atjent. 




m. IE. Qllturdj 



REAL ESTATE, LOANS AND INSURANCE 

TAVK^^TV YEARS' EXPERIENCE 

Suburban Property and Investments in Fairfax and 
Alexandria Counties Given Special Attention 

Attractive homes, beautiful villa sites and good building lots in 
Falls Church, Livingston Heights, Ballston, Clarendon aud all the 
Alexandria and Fairfax suburbs for sale on Easy Terms. 

Money Safely Invested in First Trust on Real Estate 

Consult Me Before Investing 

WRITE FOR IXFORMATION TEEKIMIONE CONNECTIONS 

M. E. CHURCH. Fat.ls Cm kch:Va. 



89 



Through the Most Historic Section of Virginia 

Quickest, Most Convenient and interestin,^ Route to 

Mt. Vernon, Alexandria, Arlington 
..National Cemetery.. 

VIA THE 

Washington, Alexandria & 
Mt. Vernon Railway 

station, 1204 Pennsylvania Avenue 




•ft 



hn'M 



MOUNT VLRNON... 



Tlie Home and Tomb of Washington 
Ground open week days from 11 a. m. to 5 p. m. 
Trains leave Washington 10, 11 a. m.; 12 noon, 1, 2 
and 3 p. m. Admission, 25 cents 

ARLINGTON... 

The Burial Place of the Nation's Heroes 
Grounds open daily from sun-up until sun-down 
Admission free. Trains everx' twenty minutes 

Trains to Alexandria Lvery Twenty Minutes 

ROUND TRIP TO 

Mt. Vernon Alexandria 



Arlington 

20 cents 

Mt. Vernon, including Alexandria and Arlington, 85c. 



75 Cents 



25 Cents 



f)0 



JOHN F. JERMAN 

REAL ESTATE AGENT 

Notary Public. Bonding and Insurance. Loans Negotiated. 

FAIRFAX, VA. ( Phone Connection) VIENNA, VA. 




My Motto : " Honesty and Fair Dealing." 

Headquarters for Grain, Dairy, Fruit, Poultry and Blue Grass Farms, City and Sub- 
urban Property near Steam and Electric R. R., and near Washington, D. C. 

It will pay you to get my new list before you buy. it is full of bargams. My car- 
riage is at your service at any time to inspect property. I try to please. List your property 
with me. All business entrusted to me receives my personal attention. 



HISTORIC GREAT FALLS OF POTOMAC 



Scenic Beauty Around Great Falls Gr^nd and Pic= 

turesque-Waterfalls Reached by the Great 

Falls and Old Dominion Railroad 



Spots of Historic interest Passed en Route Over One of tlie 
Finest Double-track Roads in the United States 



(H 



■ HIS great waterfall is situ- 
H ated fourteen miles from 
Washins^toii, in Fairfax 
Count}', Va. Here are to be seen 
some of the grandest views of 
nature, formed by some vast up- 
heaval in ancient times. Tower- 
ing" cliffs, enormous volumes of 
water rushing-, rolling-, and fall- 
ing over a precipice, forming* a 
whirlpool in the great gorge. It 
is impossible to describe in words 
the magnificence of the scenery. 
The early genius of George 
Washington as an engineer is 
here to be seen, he having built 
a canal around the Great Falls, 
being the first canal built in the 
United States. This canal for 
man}^ years was the only means 
of bringing farm and other prod- 
ucts from Western Maryland and 
Virginia to Georgetown, from 
which point much of it was 
shipped to European ports. 
George Washington also erected 
at this place a flouring mill and 



i^^ iron foundry, the foundations and 
■*■ ruins of both of which are still 
in existence and can be seen at 
this place. 

( All of the adjacent ground at 

' this time is covered with large 

forest trees which have grown 

since the abandonment of the 

canal as a waterway. 

This beautiful place is reached 
by the Great Falls and Old Do- 
minion Electric Railroad. This 
'' is one of the finest double-track 
railroads in the United States. 
Its cars and equipment are un- 
surpassed, having the finest 

', motors made. 

) 

^ The trip is most delightful, as 

\ the cars pass through one of the 

finest sections of Virginia. 

Take the cars at Thirty-sixth 

s and M streets. The cars of all 

city car companies' reach the 

jioint. Fare for round trip, 25 

^x^ cents. Now is the time to book 

*4' vour dates for excursions. 



INDEX. 

Page. 
Industrial Section: 

County Officials 4 

Introductory 5 

Location 5 

Towns — Fairfax 6 

Falls Church 8 

Herndon 10 

Vienna 11 

Clifton 13 

Weihle 14 

Villages — Annandale 15 

Langley 15 

Lewinsville 15 

Forestville 16 

Dranesville . ... 16 

Floris 16 

Chantilly 16 

Centerville 17 

Accotink 17 

Oakton 17 

West End 18 

Burke's Station 18 

Fairfax Station 18 

Bailey's Cross-Roads 18 

Topography 20 

Geology and Soil Conditions 21 

Climatic Conditions 22 

Industrial and Economic Conditions 22 

Theological Seminary. . . . , 25 

Episcopal High School 26 

General Remarks 28 

Production 29 

Fruit 32 

Historical Sicction: 

Historical 35 

Early Settlers 38 

Tobacco 39 

Ducking Stool 41 

Quaint Laws 43 

Washington's Wealth 51 



93 



INDEX 

Page. 

Distinguished Fairfax Citizf.ns: 

Georo^e Washino^ton 53 

Georg'e Mason 63 

Gen. Daniel Morg-an 67 

Gen. Wm. Henry Fitzhn,<;h Lee 68 

Gen. W. W. Mackall 69 

Gen. Fitzhugh Lee 69 

Old Homf.stkads: 

Mt. Vernon 71 

Gunston Hall 73 

Wood 1 awn 75 

Solona 77 

Other Old Homes 78 

Old Churches: 

Pohick Church 81 

Falls Church 82 

Miscellaneous: 

Old Hig-hways 83 

Washingtons Old Mill 85 

Washington's Tomb 85 

Fairfax County Medical Society' 86 

Conclusion 87 

Illustrations: 

Frontispiece — Cameron Run Farm. 

Fairfax Court-House 7 

Virginian Training School 9 

Burke's vStation 8 

Street in Falls Church '. . . 10 

Bull Run Bridge 11 

Bird's Eye View of Herndon 12 

Elden Street, Herndon 13 

Lieutenant-Governor Willard's Home 14 

Clerk's Office, Fairfax 15 

Cedar Lane, Vienna 16 

Maple Avenue, Vienna 17 

Company I, Third Virginia Regiment 19 

House on Chantilly Stock Farm 20 

A Prize Winner on Chantilly Stock F^arm 21 

Theological Seminary 23 

The General Dunn Residence 24 

Dr. Blackford's Residence 25 

Eyiiscopal High School 27 



94 



INDEX 

Page 

Confederate Monument 28 

The Williams Orchard 31 

Pi-ofessor Hall's Residence 32 

Herndon Packing" House 33 

Great Falls of the Potomac 36 

Old Dranesville Bridg-e 37. 

House built bj' Lord Fairfax 38 

Distant View of Town of Fairfax 40 

Fairfax Public School 41 

Accotinck Public School 42 

Accotinck Public School, Interior 43 

Falls Church Publ ic School 44 

Oakton Public School 45 

Vienna Public School 46 

Residence of J. S. Pearson 47 

Old Mill, built in 1794 48 

Chantilly Battle Field 49 

' ' Vauxcluse " 50 

Washing-ton's Sixteen-Sided Barn 54 

Washington's Old Mill 56 

Barn on the General Dunn Farm 58 

General Lawton's Old Home 59 

The Old Falls Church in 1862 60 

Washing-ton's Tomb 61 

Street in Old Centerville 62 

General Pope's Headquarters, Centerville 63 

Old Tavern, Centerville 64 

Fairfax County Jail 66 

' ' Mount Vernon " 72 

' ' Gunston Hall " 74 

" Woodlawn " 76 

' ' Soloua " 77 

Pohick Church «0 

Pohick Church, Interior 81 

Falls Church 82 

Old Star Tavern 83 



FAIRFAX COUNTY 

VIRGINIA 




IN WHICH 

GEN.GEORGE WASHINGTON 

LIVED AND DIED. 



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